
Glass. 
Book. 




DISTRICBCOLVABIA 



QFO 9—1465 



l^njwunmimimi 



FROM JOB TO JOB 
AROUND THE WORLD 




The Author 



FROM JOB TO JOB 

AROUND the WORLD 

BY 

ALFRED C. B. FLETCHER 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 
BY RALPH J. RICHARDSON 




NEW YORK 
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 

1921 



MOUNT PLEASANT BRANCH 

• ft 
mi 



Copyright, 1916, 
By Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc. 



TRANSFER 
fe O. PUBLIC LIBRAE^ 
BBPT. 10,1040 




DEDICATED TO 

I RALPH J. RICHARDSON 

J 

A GOOD COMPANION AND AN INTELLIGENT 

TRAVELLER 

i 

5 



FOREWORD 

The pages that follow are an account of a three- 
year trip I made around the world, starting from 
San Francisco with only a five-dollar gold piece and 
earning my way. My wanderings took me to 
Hawaii, Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, Cey- 
lon, India, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, Europe, Eng- 
land, Norway, Spitzbergen, Sweden, and finally 
across the Atlantic to America. I think the book 
covers a new field in travel narrative in that it shows 
that it is possible to work one's way around the world 
and do so with a considerable degree of comfort. 
In most instances I held good positions, met the rep- 
resentative people of each country and travelled in 
moderate style. I, of course, had numerous hard- 
ships and adventures, which I relate. 

I wish to extend my thanks to Mr. Ralph J. Rich- 
ardson, my travelling companion on part of the trip, 
for the photographs which illustrate the edition and 
to Mr. Stanley Richardson for many valuable sug- 
gestions in connection with the manuscript of the 
volume. I also wish to express my gratitude to 
The Wide World Magazine for the courtesy of per- 
mitting me to republish the narrative from its pages. 

A. C. B. F. 



CONTENTS 



I Two World-Beaters . 

II Hawaii by Steerage 

III Government Inspectors at Pearl 

Harbour ..... 

IV Living as Japanese in Japan 
V Arrested as Spies in Japan . 

VI A Professor in a Chinese College 

VII Adrift in the Chinese Empire 

VIII Rural China by Cart . 

IX Assorted Jobs in the Philippines . 

X A Port-hole View of Southern Asia 

XI Two Tramps in India . 

XII A Sailor to Suez 

XIII An American Christmas in Jerusalem 

XIV Wandering in the Near East 
XV Greece and Rome from a Third-class 

Coach ..... 

XVI Europe on a Vanishing Bank-roll 

XVII From Luxury to Hunger 

XVIII A Resident of the Arctic Zone . 

XIX Mining Under the Midnight Sun 

XX To America as an Immigrant 



i 
13 

25 
40 

57 

7i 

86 

105 

115 
129 
144 
164 
179 
197 

210 

233 
249 
261 
276 
295 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



The author 



Frontispiece 



On the beach at Waikiki 

Our Kaneohe cottage .... 

" Grub is ready ; get your gang together ' 

The Steerage Trio 

The Gaylord, the only drag-bucket dredger in 

ence 

A restaurant where nothing but " grub " is served 

Bound for Japan 

Taisuke Murakami, our host at Nagoya 

The picture that caused our arrest 

A group of our Korean friends . 

Every day is wash-day in Korea . 

Provincial officials attending China's first track 

The author in Chinese garb-. 

A pagoda bridge in the Forbidden City 

Country boys of North China 

Sample of an irrigation system 

Crossing a Chinese country bridge 

The inn where Richardson put up for a night 

The house in which Richardson lived during h 

ploy at the prison .... 
A jutka or " jitney " used in Central India 
The Mount of Olives .... 
Our start for Nazareth 
A market in Constantinople . 



exist- 



meet 



is em- 



PAiiE 

4 
10 
10 
18 

30 
30 
48 
48 
66 
76 
76 
80 

84 
96 
102 
102 
112 
112 

126 
150 
194 
200 
218 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



St. John's Church, Needham Market .... 252 

The author's home in Tromso 264 

Tromso in summer-time 264 

Pack ice in Ice Fjord 272 

Twenty miles from land 272 

The first load for shore 278 

The ice pack from the crow's nest .... 284 

The Munroe alongside the ice — 60 miles from land . 290 
Longyear City, Spitzbergen — 700 miles from the 

North Pole 290 



FROM JOB TO JOB 
AROUND THE WORLD 



CHAPTER I 

TWO WORLD-BEATERS 

"What's the trouble? Are you seasick or home- 
sick?" cordially inquired Richardson, approaching a 
stranger who was hanging over the side of a ship 
bound for Honolulu. 

"Neither, my friend," I replied with a smile. 

These were the initial sentences of a dialogue 
which was happily destined to continue for three 
years. 

It was about an hour after the S.S. Alameda had 
left San Francisco for Honolulu, while leaning 
against the rail of the ship gazing at the receding 
city and turning over in my pocket a five-dollar gold 
piece, that I was hailed by Richardson. This gold 
piece was all the money I had in the world and I soon 
learned that the few loose coins my new friend 
possessed fell a little short of this amount. 

After exchanging a few ideas each of us discov- 



2 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

ered that we were starting out on a similar expedi- 
tion — a trip around the world. Richardson had 
made arrangements with another fellow for such a 
tour and he had backed out. I also had planned for 
a companion — who disappointed me at the last mo- 
ment. With our partners failing us we both set out 
alone and by a happy coincidence took the same boat 
and met the first morning out of port. We liked one 
another's looks and decided to hook up, then and 
there. 

A combined wealth of less than ten dollars and 
the wide, wide world in front of us ! We agreed 
not to make any definite plans; we mapped out no 
itinerary, except the general one of around the 
world; we had no elaborate scheme of travel nor 
ideas of how we were to make our way, but decided 
to resign ourselves to chance and bang around, taking 
whatever came along. My idea was to explore the 
earth before I was anchored by matrimony, and 
Richardson wanted to see all of this world before 
he went to the next. We set out not as tourists — 
that familiar species of humanity — but as two refined 
American tramps. 

As a young boy I had vague notions of how I was 
some day going to "beat" my way around the 
world. I always pictured myself going as a vagrant. 
My career as a world-beater had now begun. 

To make the break was the difficult thing. To 
leave a good position against the advice of friends 
and start out on an expedition which seemed the 
height of folly to many people was not an easy step. 



TWO WORLD-BEATERS 3 

I had heard of men beating their way amid a con- 
tinual round of hardships. I thought it possible to 
travel in such a manner and do so with a fair de- 
gree of comfort. It was our plan to look for good 
jobs and to get around in the middle course between 
the wealthy tourist on one hand and the ignorant, 
homeless tramp on the other. 

With our fares paid to Honolulu, by money we 
had saved, we had no cares, and mingled with the 
miscellaneous types of passengers on the ship. Forty 
school teachers, ranging in age from twenty to sixty, 
were returning to their insular positions; pious mis- 
sionaries were on their way to their posts after a 
sojourn in the States; sugar planters and pineapple 
growers spent hours on the promenade deck boost- 
ing the islands to the handful of tourists and others 
on the water for the first time. Seated at our table 
in the saloon was a Roman Catholic priest, a lean, 
kindly old man who was only able to eat about one 
meal in ten. Accompanying him were two monks, 
a fat one and a thin one, going to the islands to 
resume their labours. The amount of food the fat 
one could surround was not only a source of amaze- 
ment and anxiety to his fellow-eaters but was the 
cause for great alarm on the part of the ship's com- 
missary — for fear the supply of provisions would be 
exhausted before port was reached. If he had 
taken vows to deny himself many of the pleasures 
of this world he more than squared himself by 
the quantity of food he would devour at one 
sitting. 



4 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

The six days it takes to go to Honolulu from San 
Francisco were spent as such days are usually spent 
at sea, talking and reading in the morning, shuffle- 
board and other games in the afternoon, singing and 
spooning in the evening — on the whole a civilized 
trip. On the morning of the seventh day we arrived 
in the harbour of Honolulu. After being amused by 
a group of native boys diving for coins thrown by 
all passengers except ourselves — who felt inclined to 
strip and join the divers — the ship was soon along- 
side and in a short time we were mingling with 
the cosmopolitan inhabitants on the streets of 
Honolulu. 

The next day found each of us enrolled on the 
teaching staff of two different schools. We became 
school teachers ! There is something rather dis- 
tasteful about a man teaching in the grammar grades. 
It is too ladylike. I would rather be caught operat- 
ing an electric runabout. But when one realizes that 
his last meal is not far away, any occupation is ac- 
ceptable, and school teaching proved to be one of 
the most attractive vocations which we pursued dur- 
ing the trip. 

Richardson affiliated himself with Mills Institute, 
a school under the control of the Hawaiian Board of 
the Congregational Church Missionary organization. 
The total enrolment of this institution was about 
two hundred students, three-fourths of whom were 
Chinese and the rest Japanese and Koreans. It 
graduated pupils of high school standing and it was 
in the upper division that Richardson was to work. 




On the beach at Waikiki 



TWO WORLD-BEATERS 5 

He was instructor in algebra, geometry, Latin and 
English at sixty dollars a month and board. His 
work consisted of the routine duties of any ordinary 
teacher and, except that the school was quarantined 
for three weeks on account of diphtheria, nothing 
eventful occurred during his connection with the 
place. 

I assumed the duties of teacher of the fourth and 
fifth grades in Iolani School, a parochial institution 
connected with Saint Andrew's Cathedral, at the 
mere pittance of thirty dollars a month and board. 
Hawaiian schools are in many respects similar to 
those on the mainland and differ chiefly in the fact 
that the personnel of the pupils is much more cos- 
mopolitan. In these two grades there were about 
sixty boys made up of Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, 
Koreans, Portuguese and but two Americans. At 
the end of two months under my instruction one of 
the American boys ran away and the other poor chap 
went insane — a tough commentary on the pedagogic 
ability of their teacher. 

One of the masterpieces of literature that came 
to my attention is too good to let fade into obscurity. 
It is a letter from a number of Chinese and Japa- 
nese pupils asking me for their report cards. It 
follows : 

"Dear Mr. A. C. B. Fletcher: 

Our objection in writing this letter to you that 
we don't want our report cards on last examination 
and you promise to us that you will sent out the 
cards on Monday, but the cards has not yet reached 



6 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

us. We shall be obliged if you will sent us the re- 
port cards when you have accept this letter. 
Hoping to receive the cards early, 

Your disobedient pupils, 

H. Ah Chau, 
Instead of pupil." 
Mr. Ah Chew Mr. Jock Chay 

Mr. Ah Soy Mr. T. Murakami 

Mr. Jay Yet Mr. Lo Lee 

No one could resist this touching plea, so I spent 
one whole night correcting papers and had the report 
cards ready to deliver the following day. 

"The loveliest fleet of islands that lie anchored 
in any ocean," were the words in which Mark Twain 
once described the Hawaiian group, and the time we 
spent in the "Paradise of the Pacific" proved to be 
one of the most enjoyable periods of the trip. 

I have been surprised on many occasions at the 
ignorance displayed by people in the United States, 
and especially in the East, concerning the Territory 
of Hawaii. They imagine that the natives are a 
half-clad race recently descended from cannibals, 
that Honolulu is a semi-civilized village of Hawaiian 
huts and that modern conveniences have not yet 
found their way to the islands. Honolulu is a city 
of fifty thousand people, of whom a large number 
are Orientals and but a few thousands are Amer- 
icans. The Americans, although in the minority, 
dominate the city. Honolulu is one of the most 
beautiful and up-to-date cities of its size under the 
American flag. It has a good electric car service, 
hundreds of paved streets, first-class shops, three 



TWO WORLD-BEATERS 7 

modern hotels and countless beautiful homes. There 
were one hundred and fifty automobiles lined up on 
the water front to meet the S.S. Cleveland when she 
docked at Honolulu with seven hundred passengers 
on her a round-the-world trip. There are hundreds 
of miles of excellent roads for motoring throughout 
the islands and the number of automobiles, per capita 
of Americans, greatly exceeds the ratio of any city 
on the mainland. Honolulu is a park from one end 
to the other. It combines all the attractive features 
of the tropics with the climate of the temperate zone 
and possesses a charm all its own. 

It was in this paradise that Richardson and I be- 
gan our wanderings. During the recesses we had 
from our school duties we explored the island of 
Oahu, upon which Honolulu is situated, and became 
as familiar with it as the average man is with his 
own back yard. We learned to ride the surf at 
Waikiki — the finest bathing beach in all the world. 
We 'climbed all the hills in the vicinity of Honolulu 
and visited Diamond Head and its fortifications. 
We took a dip in the Kalihi swimming hole, and we 
explored the island from one end to the other. 

Through the kindness of an American friend, we 
had at our disposal a summer cottage at Kaneohe, 
about twelve miles from Honolulu on the northern 
shore of the island. This little house was com- 
pletely equipped with cooking and eating appliances, 
beds and provisions. It was situated on the beach 
of Kaneohe Bay. We had the use of a sail boat, two 
row boats and fishing tackle. At this ideal spot we 



8 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

spent many week-ends and, the whole time, we would 
go about clad in only a pair of trunks and devote the 
pleasant hours under the semi-tropical sun to swim- 
ming, boating and fishing. Many a time since, I 
have longed for another few days' stay at this little 
resort — to bathe in its sunshine and enjoy its out- 
door pleasures undisturbed by the noise and bustle 
of civilization. 

We concluded that teaching stipends would never 
get us around the world. Especially true was this in 
my case, for I was making an effort to pay twenty- 
dollars a month to a California real estate firm for 
several lots I had purchased some years before. We 
therefore decided to give up our schools and to rustle 
a more remunerative line of labour. Hearing that 
the United States Navy Department needed in- 
spectors for its operations in connection with the 
construction of the naval base at Pearl Harbour, 
about twelve miles from Honolulu, I wandered into 
the navy headquarters one morning and bluntly ad- 
dressed the first man I saw. 

"My name is Fletcher and I am looking for a 
job." The lieutenant in charge, who was dressed 
precisely in the white uniform of the tropics, resent- 
ing my abrupt manner, replied by asking sarcas- 
tically : 

"Have you been to high school?" 

"Yes," I said. 

"Are you a university graduate?" the officer con- 
tinued, beginning to realize that he had somewhat 
misjudged the applicant. 



TWO WORLD-BEATERS 9 

"I was graduated from the University of Cali- 
fornia in 1907." 

"Well, then," said the lieutenant, assuming a dig- 
nified attitude, "an examination is to be held on 
Wednesday of next week for several positions as 
sub-inspectors of dredging, and if you will fill out an 
application you can take it." I filled out the docu- 
ment, which contained the regular useless and char- 
acteristic red tape required to get within approaching 
distance of a government position. 

"What does the examination cover?" I inquired. 

"It is contrary to the rules to answer such a ques- 
tion," was his reply. 

"But a man ought to have some line on what he is 
going up against. For all I know the questions may 
be on theology," I said with a smile. "Can't 
you give me a general idea what the test will 
cover?" 

The officer then informed me that the examination 
would include several questions on dredges, blasting 
and explosives and the use of a sextant and a pro- 
tractor, and would test the applicant's knowledge of 
geometry and arithmetic. After expressing my grati- 
tude for the information I wandered out into the 
street with my hopes somewhat shattered. As I aim- 
lessly sauntered along the water front leading from 
the Naval Station, I began to ponder over the vari- 
ous items to be included in the examination. The 
more I reflected the lower my hopes descended. I 
couldn't tell a sextant from a churn, a protractor 
was as strange a device to me as a doctor's forceps, 



io JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

and I knew no more about a stick of dynamite than 
a turtle does about music. 

But in spite of this apparently insurmountable wall 
of ignorance, we both agreed to take a chance at the 
examination, and I was designated to gather the in- 
formation. I borrowed a sextant from the skipper 
of a ship lying in the harbour and practised with the 
instrument in the vacant lots of the city. I made 
several trips to Pearl Harbour and studied the dif- 
ferent types of dredges at work in the channel, draw- 
ing diagrams and taking notes on each. I obtained 
a book on explosives and among other volumes I 
came across a publication entitled "Inspector's Hand- 
book," which contained most of the information we 
desired in concise form. 

While I was busy gathering data for the approach- 
ing examination, Richardson was earning two dollars 
a day on a job he had picked up from the Hono- 
lulu Telephone Company. His tedious duties con- 
sisted of installing a switch-board in the company's 
new building, and he spent his ten long hours a day 
in the monotonous task of connecting an endless num- 
ber of small metallic fibres. At the close of his sec- 
ond day on the job he struck his boss for a lay-off. 

"You have only worked two days and now you 
ask for time off. What do you want it for?" asked 
the oily-looking foreman. 

"I am scheduled to take a civil service examination 
to-morrow," was Richardson's reply. 

"A civil service examination ! Going to quit me, 
eh ? Not if I know anything about it. You're fired. 




Upper: Our Kaneohe Cottage 
Lower: "Grub is Ready, Get Your Gang Together" 



TWO WORLD-BEATERS n 

Come and get your time right now," exclaimed the 
enraged telephone boss. 

"That suits me all right," said Richardson in an 
indifferent tone. He received his four dollars and 
walked unconcernedly out of the place. 

That evening Richardson, four dollars richer, 
spent several hours under my instruction, and I made 
an effort to prime him full of the information I had 
collected for the examination. Promptly at nine 
o'clock the next morning we were both on hand at 
the Naval Station, equipped with a banana each for 
lunch, to take the six-hour test. There were seven 
other aspirants representing seven types of the hu- 
man species, from a shabbily dressed stevedore to 
a foppishly attired bank clerk, and each had little 
or no knowledge of the nature of the test which was 
about to begin. After the examination had been in 
progress about an hour, Richardson and I were the 
only ones left — the other poor beggars had given 
up in despair. With our coats off, we answered the 
nine questions in the required time and afterwards 
retired to the lawn, where we were asked to demon- 
strate our practical knowledge of a sextant. We 
were instructed to measure off four red flags, which 
were so arranged that they formed a circle with the 
point on which we stood as a pivot. We were given 
ten minutes to perform this feat. Richardson han- 
dled the instrument like a veteran. I was unable 
to locate the final flag through the lense of the 
sextant on account of a multitude of red banners 
flying from a man-of-war lying alongside of a dock 



12 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

near-by. After fumbling around in a vain effort 
to find the right red flag in the maze of the ship's 
signals, and realizing that my ten minutes were fast 
fading away, I decided to take a long shot and do 
a little guess work. I took my vernier reading 
from the biggest flag I could see. It turned out to 
be a good guess, for I learned afterwards that my 
entire circle read three hundred and sixty degrees, 
one second. 

The next day we were both notified that we had 
passed the examination — Richardson, the student, 
receiving a mark of eighty-six per cent. — and my- 
self, the instructor, eighty-five per cent. We were 
now eligible for appointments as sub-inspectors of 
dredging on the Pearl Harbour Naval Base, in the 
employ of the United States Navy Department at 
$3.60 a day and board — with double pay on Sun- 
day. This made an average of one hundred and ten 
dollars clear money a month. 



CHAPTER II 

HAWAII BY STEERAGE 

Passing the examination was only part of the 
procedure through which we had to go to obtain 
positions as sub-inspectors of dredging on the con- 
struction of the Pearl Harbour Naval Base. The 
next step was to get an appointment from Washing- 
ton which was not to be had until there was a va- 
cancy at the harbour. The naval authorities in 
Honolulu could give us no assurance when an open- 
ing would occur, so we decided to visit some of the 
other islands while awaiting developments. We 
wished to see Kilauea, the only active volcano in 
the Hawaiian archipelago, on the island of Hawaii, 
about one hundred and twenty-five miles south of 
Honolulu. We also wished to see Haleakala, the 
largest extinct crater in the world, on the island of 
Maui. 

We sailed on the S.S. Wilhelmina for Hawaii, 
accompanied by a fellow school teacher by the name 
of Hammond. Richardson went as a member of 
the crew while Hammond and I were steerage 
passengers at three dollars a head — as we supposed. 
No one came to collect our fares, so I reluctantly 
offered the money to the purser who refused it — for 
he knew we were poor men. We returned under 

13 



i 4 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

similar good fortune, making a total of two hundred 
and fifty miles of travel, including meals, for noth- 
ing. Richardson's duties consisted of bucking around 
one-hundred-and-fifty-pound sugar sacks, and he re- 
ceived little sympathy from his two travelling com- 
panions who sat leisurely by and made fun of him. 
He proved to be a very poor workman, for after the 
ship was well under way he shirked his duties to such 
an extent that he enjoyed all the comforts and leisure 
of steerage travel. 

We were the most aristocratic steerage passen- 
gers that this ship or any other ever had. Instead 
of conducting ourselves like cattle, as fourth-class 
passengers sometimes do, we mingled with the pretty 
girls of the first-class, took deck chairs which usually 
retail at a dollar a trip, explored the boat beyond 
the steerage line and when the steward emerged 
from the lower deck and in the presence of all the 
passengers shouted, "Grub is ready, get your gang 
together," the three of us dropped down the hole 
and lined up alongside of the trough and proceeded 
to place away the food which was served in whole- 
sale quantities on tinware. Our iron-piped bunks 
were free from bed-bugs and other inhabitants, but 
the hairy blankets were tormentors all night long. 
It was a rough trip and it was fortunate that none 
of us Was seasick. It would have been extremely 
awkward, for no provision was made for receptacles 
of any kind which are necessary under such cir- 
cumstances. Our bunks were ten feet from the port 
holes, which were twelve feet from the deck, ancj 



HAWAII BY STEERAGE 15 

in order to do the usual thing through one of these 
apertures it would have been necessary to procure 
a ladder, and even then we should have run the risk 
of getting our heads caught in the port holes and of 
being unable to draw them out. One's imagination 
can picture the steerage steward being greeted in the 
morning by three bums hanging lifelessly by their 
heads from three successive port holes, with their 
legs dangling in the air. 

Richardson was determined to meet two attractive 
girls on the first-class promenade deck. One of them 
was seated in front of her stateroom looking like an 
unlaundered towel and doing her best to retain a 
recently devoured meal. Richardson prinked before 
the steerage mirror and walked briskly along the 
deck to the point where the young lady was sitting. 
He stopped short and bluntly asked, 

"Are you seasick?" 

"Don't I look it?" she replied with a smile. 

This was the entering wedge and soon Richard- 
son introduced his fellow travellers. The steerage 
quarters were immediately deserted and we spent 
the rest of the trip on the promenade deck with the 
women. One of them proved to be the daughter of 
an high official of the Oceanic Steamship Company, 
which at that time was contemplating placing on a 
line of steamers from San Francisco to Australia. 
We met her father who, on hearing of the plans 
of our trip, which we enthusiastically related, said 
that in the event the new line was put on he would 
see that we got to Australia for nothing. Unfor- 



1 6 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

tunately for us, our time to depart came before this 
line was inaugurated. 

We landed at Hilo on the island of Hawaii early 
in the morning, and bought a third-class round-trip 
ticket for $1.60 to Glenwood, twenty-two miles dis- 
tant. From Glenwood we walked the remaining 
nine miles to the Volcano House in two hours and 
fifteen minutes, rising two thousand feet and beat- 
ing the stage by twenty minutes. The road was a 
good thoroughfare through tropical forests of tree 
ferns, twenty feet in height; of ohia lehua, a tree 
belonging to the same family as the eucalyptus; koa 
or Hawaiian mahogany; wild bananas; papaia, wa- 
ter lemons, palms and wild roses. On arriving at 
the Volcano House we had something to eat and then 
set out across the lava beds for three miles to Hale- 
maumau — the active pit of the volcano — where we 
spent the night in a shack perched on its edge. 

Kilauea is one of the "seven wonders" of Amer- 
ica. It is situated on the slopes of Mauna Loa, a 
barren mountain rising gradually from the sea to a 
height of thirteen thousand five hundred feet. The 
Volcano House, or tourist hotel on the hillside, com- 
mands an excellent view of the crater with its desert 
of lava, of the swirling smoke of the pit and of 
Mauna Loa, rising majestically in the distance to 
its dome-like summit. 

Vesuvius is a large broken cone on the top of 
a mountain. Kilauea is an enormous cavity about 
seven miles in circumference and several hundred 
feet deep on the side of a mountain. The crater is 



HAWAII BY STEERAGE 17 

a large lava bed cooled in peculiar and fantastic 
formations and it is about four miles in diameter. 
Across this dreary desert is a winding trail which 
leads from the Volcano House to the pit. Along 
this path there are immense fissures in the lava from 
which constantly rise volumes of sulphur smoke ooz- 
ing out from the very bowels of the earth. As one 
approaches the pit the enormous column of smoke, 
which rises from it, is always present as a guide 
to his destination and at night it is a tower of light 
which spreads its rays for miles. 

Halemaumau, the pit where the molten lava is 
raging, is about four hundred feet in diameter and 
at the time of our visit the level of the liquid fire 
was about six hundred feet below the floor of the 
crater. There is a pit within a pit, the top of the 
inner forming a shelf within the outer; and it was 
on this ledge that Mark Twain had the thrilling 
experience of rescuing a companion who had fallen 
through the lava. His account of this adventure is 
given in "Roughing It," and he relates in detail the 
difficulty with which he emerged from his peril- 
ous situation after wandering blindly about amidst 
the fumes of sulphur in search of a path to safety. 
To-day none but the foolhardy venture below, as it 
is very dangerous. Richardson, Hammond and I 
explored the whole region, and we sat for hours on 
the edge of the precipice and watched this lake of 
molten lava — splashing, surging, tossing, gurgling, 
flowing — ever restless and ever beautiful. 

This mass of writhing fluid looks like hell as 



1 8 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

pictured by the old-time fire and brimstone preach- 
ers. It appears to be flowing in a continuous cur- 
rent, coming from one side and disappearing at 
another. As floating pieces of lava cool and crack, 
a series of red hot fountains bursts through them, 
rising to a height of twenty or thirty feet. In the 
midst of this restless mass of Satanic fluid is a large 
stationary rock which reposes in its infernal posi- 
tion as peacefully as a cow in a pasture. Out of this 
awful chasm there arise clouds of sulphur smoke 
which conceal the bed to a great extent, but as there 
is always a strong constantly changing wind we were 
able to get good views of the whole scene. 

It is extremely fascinating to sit on the edge of 
this pit and watch the incessant dashing and splash- 
ing of the glowing lava. It impressed even such 
homeless tramps as ourselves. One's thoughts drift 
back to the time, a century ago, when Mrs. Pele — 
the Hawaiian Goddess of volcanoes — was misbe- 
having to her full capacity, when the present outer 
crater with its cold and peaceful lava beds was one 
living mass of furious fire, when its rays were so 
brilliant at night that it illuminated the sky and sea 
for a radius of four hundred miles and the lava 
flowed at will down the mountain-side to the sea and 
extended the coast of this volcanic island. 

An interesting story is told by the natives. Sev- 
eral years ago when Kilauea was unusually active 
there was great fear that the lava would flow down 
the mountain-side and bury the town of Hilo. The 
Hawaiians in their frenzied fright appealed to Prin- 



■ 



HAWAII BY STEERAGE 19 

cess Ruth for help. She, accompanied by the ladies 
and gentlemen of the court, proceeded to the vol- 
cano and with great ceremony, this portly and corpu- 
lent woman (it is said that she weighed three 
hundred pounds) stood on the edge of the pit and 
threw a live and disgusted pig into the midst of the 
burning cauldron, whereupon the boiling lava imme- 
diately subsided and the village of Hilo was saved. 

The regular tourist rate from Honolulu to Ki- 
lauea is $59.50, which includes round-trip by boat, 
railroad fare from Hilo to Glenwood, stage charges 
to the Volcano House and board and room while 
there. Admitting that we missed a considerable 
degree of comfort, nevertheless, we saw all that the 
average tourist sees and at a cash outlay of only 
$2.10 each. 

Huddled in the steerage of the Mauna Kea (one 
of the small steamers of the Inter-Island Steam "Nav- 
igation Company) with a score of Chinese, Japanese 
and Hawaiians, we left Honolulu for McGregor's 
Landing on the island of Maui to see the extinct 
volcano Haleakala. The trip was a night's journey 
and, as no sleeping accommodations are provided in 
the third-class of Hawaiian steamers, we bunked on 
the soft side of a coil of rope. 

The ship arrived at McGregor's Landing about 
five o'clock in the morning and we went ashore feel- 
ing anything but rested after a most wearisome night. 
We made a bargain with a Chinese hack driver to 
carry us to Kahului, eight miles across the island. 
After breakfast we boarded a little narrow gauge 



20 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

train for Paia, a sugar plantation village a short 
distance up the coast on the slopes of Haleakala. 
We purchased a supply of provisions at the planta- 
tion store and were soon started on the twenty-mile 
climb to the top of the mountain. Haleakala is just 
over ten thousand feet in elevation and the trail to 
the summit ascends on an average of five hundred 
feet to the mile. A trip up Haleakala proved to 
be far from a pleasure jaunt. 

The first part of our walk from Paia past the 
huge sugar factory lay through the great cane fields 
of the Maui Agricultural Company, the second larg- 
est plantation in the Hawaiian Islands. The cane 
was being harvested and the Japanese cutters were 
as busy as bees all about us. 

About ten o'clock we reached the four-thousand- 
foot level. The cane fields began to disappear and 
our path wound its way among banana farms and 
taro patches. We helped ourselves to mangoes, pa- 
paias and guavas along the way. We ate our lunch 
at a Chinese store. The real climb began after 
midday. We left fertile fields and were soon follow- 
ing the trail across the middle slopes of the moun- 
tain. There were few trees and the sun shone down 
from a cloudless sky. Our gait was easily under the 
speed limit, only about two miles an hour. It was a 
hard stony road over which we had to travel. 

As we ascended the view began to widen out on 
every side. We could look back over the cane fields 
to the Pacific and see the breakers rolling ashore. 
Above us towered the mountain, the summit now and 



HAWAII BY STEERAGE 21 

again lost in a fleecy cloud. We almost forgot the 
hardships of the climb with such a picture before us. 

Although the ascent from Paia to the top can be 
made in a single day, we decided to break the jour- 
ney about half way, spend the night and start out 
refreshed for the last stretch. We stopped at Idle- 
wilde and put up in the summer home of a Kahului 
friend. We made an early start. The trail was 
plainly marked with guide posts, each tenth of a 
mile. Idlewilde is eight miles by trail from the sum- 
mit and the ascent from this point is over five thou- 
sand feet — seven hundred to the mile. The first 
three or four miles were comparatively easy, for we 
were fresh and the footing was good. About the 
fifth mile the real work began. The trail became 
steeper and steeper until it seemed straight up. We 
began to strike loose, volcanic dirt and sand. We 
passed the timber line and the stubby bushes with 
which the side of the mountain is covered afforded 
no protection from the sun. It was real mountain 
climbing — or just plain unadulterated work. The 
high altitude made frequent stops necessary for 
breathing spells. Our progress was slow. The last 
three miles took over three hours. 

The view was magnificent. Forty miles of the 
Maui coast were spread out at our feet. To the 
south the island of Molokai loomed out of the sea. 
Two or three steamers were making their way 
through the Maui-Molokai channel towards Hono- 
lulu. The air was clear, almost Rocky Mountain 
clearness — an unusual condition for Hawaii. 



12 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

A mile from the top we collected a large bunch 
of fire wood for use during the night. The wood 
probably weighed one hundred pounds — fifty pounds 
each. In a half an hour it had increased to four 
hundred pounds. We began to lighten our packs. 
We reached the summit with five pounds each. The 
last half mile took one hour. The air was rarefied 
and we had to stop every few hundred feet for 
breath. The trail, beside being much steeper than 
heretofore — if such a thing were possible— was cov- 
ered with sand, causing us to slip back a foot for 
nearly every step we took. 

Suddenly the view of the great crater burst upon 
us. It is a sight I shall never forget. We had 
reached the top of the trail and were walking along 
a low wall of rock towards the mountain house. We 
came to a break in the rock and in an instant Halea- 
kala appeared before us. 

Imagine a hole in the top of a mountain. Let this 
hole be twenty-seven miles around and from two 
to three thousand feet deep, the sides abruptly slop- 
ing. Scattered over the level floor of this hole, 
picture twenty extinct volcanic cones or craters, the 
smallest forty feet in height, the largest about a 
thousand. This, in brief, is Haleakala. The sight 
is a grand one to-day, with all the craters extinct. 
What must it have been a thousand years ago when, 
according to geologists, Haleakala was active and the 
great crater was one mass of flame and liquid rock? 

We spent the night in the mountain rest house. 
This small stone cabin is provided for visitors to 



HAWAII BY STEERAGE 23 

the summit. We curled up in our blankets — but not 
to sleep. The fireplace balked and the smoke went 
everywhere but up the chimney. We stood it as 
long as we could and then concluded that we would 
rather freeze than be smoked to death. We threw 
the fire outdoors and spent the rest of the night 
in a cold but smokeless cabin. A bucket of water in 
the room was frozen over with ice a half inch thick. 
We didn't sleep a wink. 

In the morning we saw the greatest of all sun- 
rises — a Haleakala Sunrise. The great crater had 
filled with clouds during the night. In the grey 
morning light one could imagine that he was look- 
ing over an immense body of water. Clouds had 
settled around the mountain so that the view of the 
ocean was shut off. We seemed to be standing on 
an island with clouds all about us. The first rays 
of the sun were caught up by the mass of mist in 
the crater. In an instant the great pit was turned 
into a sea of fire. Back and forth flashed the light 
as it was reflected through the abyss of fog. In 
an instant it was all over. As the sun rose the clouds 
began to take flight, like giant birds, and in a few 
minutes the crater was empty. 

We rolled rocks over the edge and watched them 
go bounding down the two thousand foot slope to 
the floor of the crater. When a boulder in its flight 
struck another, imbedded in the side of the moun- 
tain, pieces dashed up like a fountain and the noise 
was like the muffled discharge of a cannon. 

It only took us a little over four hours to make 



24 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

the twenty miles back to Paia. We scarcely felt 
tired that evening, but the Following morning I 
thought I was a hundred years old. The constant 
pounding of our heels on the hard trail affected the 
muscles in the back of our legs and for two or 
three days we could hardly walk. If human beings 
ever have springhalt, we surely had it. 

We returned to Honolulu by the Mauna Kea. 
All went well in the steerage and we arrived in the 
morning. Instead of going to the wharf, the ship 
anchored at the quarantine station. We thought 
this was something unusual and one of us asked an 
officer the cause. Bubonic plague, one of the most 
feared of all diseases, had appeared on Maui — only 
two cases — and all the steerage passengers were to 
be landed at quarantine and inspected by the port 
doctor before being allowed to go ashore. 

We were steerage by environment but not by 
heredity. Within two minutes we had business in 
the engine room. We tarried there a brief moment 
and went on deck — the first-class deck. Every one 
was in a rush and our appearance was not even 
noticed. We knew several of the passengers and at 
once entered into conversation with them. 

Soon the ship's boats were lowered and the first- 
class passengers — and two steerage — were landed at 
the wharf. In ten minutes we were on shore, two 
travel-stained, tired and lame, but cheerful looking 
tramps. Haleakala was a wonder. It was worth 
travelling steerage to see — even worth taking a 
chance on the plague. 



CHAPTER III 

GOVERNMENT INSPECTORS AT PEARL HARBOUR 

On our return to Honolulu there still was no 
word from the Naval authorities as to appoint- 
ments at Pearl Harbour. We decided to stand by 
a few weeks longer in the hope that an opening 
would soon occur. As our money was running low 
it was necessary for us to obtain temporary jobs 
to insure that we would get food each day and have 
a place to rest our heads at night. Richardson soon 
fell into the berth of sales-clerk in a photograph 
shop on the main street of Honolulu, selling kodak 
supplies and fixtures at twelve dollars a week. I 
was not so fortunate. I scoured the town for days 
for something that paid a living wage. I applied 
to the City Health Department, hoping to get a 
position as mosquito inspector, ambling about town 
with a can of oil on my back, pouring the liquid on 
the various duck ponds which are operated by 
Chinese and Japanese and which are prolific incu- 
bators for this tropical pest. I sought work as a 
checker of sugar as it is loaded on ships in the 
harbour. T made application to the three news- 
papers in the hope of being taken on as a reporter 
and I canvassed all the houses in the wholesale dis- 
trict. No one would have me. However, I knew 

25 



26 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

one job I could get but I was standing it off as long 
as there might be prospects of obtaining something 
else. But finally I had to take it. A re-enforced 
concrete jail was under construction on the water 
front and one afternoon, after several hours of 
searching in vain for work, I sauntered around to 
this structure. I found the Irish foreman, assumed 
an empty appearance and said, U I am hungry." The 
good man immediately agreed to take me on as a 
labourer at $1.50 a day. 

I appeared the next morning attired in suitable 
raiment for the work I was about to take up and 
was assigned to my post. The building had been 
in course of construction several months and had 
reached the point where the concrete had set and 
the forms were ready to be dismantled. Equipped 
with a pinch bar, I worked on a scaffolding with a 
dozen native Hawaiians and a score of Portuguese, 
removing the forms from the walls and ceilings, 
x^fter several days of this fascinating pastime I was 
placed on the end of a shovel mixing concrete on 
the roof and propelling a wheelbarrow laden with 
cement. Pushing two hundred pounds of concrete 
in a primitive wheelbarrow on the top of an Hawai- 
ian jail under the glaring and penetrating rays of 
the tropical sun with school teacher's hands was 
no joke. Blisters the size of nickels arose on my 
fingers; my back became lame, my feet swollen and 
every muscle in my body as tender as a baby's. To 
reach the apex of misfortune I ran a rusty nail 
through the sole of my shoe into my foot. This 



INSPECTORS AT PEARL HARBOUR 27 

was a fat load of discomfort to carry for a meagre 
$1.50 a day. But I had to eat. 

In the meantime a vacancy occurred at Pearl 
Harbour and Richardson received an appointment. 
After swearing that he would support the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, the laws of the territory 
of Hawaii, the Ten Commandments and what not, 
he was duly authorized to exercise the duties of sub- 
inspector of dredging. Richardson's one per cent, 
better mark in the examination put him on the dredg- 
ing job three weeks in advance of myself and during 
this period he earned seventy-five dollars — a costly 
one per cent, for me. 

After several weeks as a hod-carrier, I also re- 
ceived my Pearl Harbour appointment, which had 
been cabled from Washington, and I at once aban- 
doned the concrete business and — from hard labour 
— joined Richardson in a life of leisure as a govern- 
ment inspector. 

The United States Government was spending sev- 
eral million dollars in developing Pearl Harbour, 
a beautiful land-locked bay on the island of Oahu 
about ten miles from Honolulu. Under the super- 
vision of the United States Navy Department a dry- 
dock was being constructed, a naval station was to 
be built with shops, barracks, parade grounds, ma- 
rine hospital, etc. In order to make this natural 
harbour accessible the government was having the 
channel dredged to a width of six hundred feet 
and to a depth of thirty-five feet. The work was 
under contract to the Hawaiian Dredging Company, 



28 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

who employed, at this time, about six hundred men. 
The task was being performed by six dredgers, each 
of a different type, — a clam-shell, a dipper, a con- 
verted schooner, an electric hydraulic, a steam hy- 
draulic and a drag-bucket. These machines were 
superintended by experienced men from America, 
but the general run of their crews was recruited 
from the riff-raff of the earth. Drunken sailors, 
bums and tramps, good-for-nothing Europeans, 
worthless hulks, swearing Britishers and high sea 
wanderers blew into the camp and were taken on — 
to remain but a few days — when new recruits would 
come along or men would be enlisted from the pa- 
trons of the waterfront saloons of Honolulu. As 
deck hands, launch men and any sort of unskilled 
labour they were set to work, only to be replaced 
in a few days by a bunch equally as worthless and 
degraded. It was common occurrence for the whole 
outfit on a dredge to quit at midnight and be re- 
placed in a few hours by a crowd obtained from 
the drunken ranks of the low-down dives of Hono- 
lulu. They would arrive at the dredge, laden to 
the shoulders with booze, howling drunk, some of 
them fighting mad, and before they were all landed 
from the launch it was an unusual thing if two or 
three had not fallen overboard and had to be fished 
out. However, beneath the uncouth externals of 
many of these men was a heart as big as a fortune, 
an unselfishness one would hardly surmise and a 
disposition which it would be difficult to duplicate. 
The headquarters for the camp were located in 



INSPECTORS AT PEARL HARBOUR 29 

Watertown, a little settlement at the mouth of the 
harbour, whose inhabitants, numbering about five 
hundred souls, were made up of Hawaiians, Jap- 
anese, Russians, Chinese, Portuguese and a score of 
Americans. This small camp contained one store 
and fifty or more houses where the employes of the 
dry-dock, machinists, launch hands, labourers and 
native fishermen lived. 

According to its regular custom, the Government 
employed inspectors to see that the work was done 
properly. Call them what you will — spies, loafers 
or parasites — each name characterizes some phase 
of the job. Such appellations are no reflection on 
the personnel of the force, however. There were 
fifteen of them and it would be hard to find a more 
interesting set of men grouped together in one 
spot. The several epithets by which they have just 
been designated are not due to any failing of theirs, 
but to the nature of the job, whose chief demands 
on the inspectors were to look intelligent, maintain 
the dignity of the Government, and draw pay. 
There were among these fifteen inspectors an ex- 
dentist of Honolulu, one of the finest fellows on 
this earth; an ex-lawyer, a brilliant and sterling 
man, an ex-doctor, whose Irish wit was of the rare 
and clever variety; an ex-professor of Whittier 
College, California; an ex-sailor and several non- 
descripts. Besides upholding the dignity of the Gov- 
ernment each inspector was supposed to have a 
thorough knowledge of the channel, its width and 
depth, to inspect the dredging, to supervise the dump- 



30 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

ing of the dredged material and to submit a daily 
report to the head inspector. 

This was the layout with which Richardson and 
I had decided to cast our lot for several months. 
With our wages averaging one hundred and ten 
dollars a month, we figured that in a short time we 
would have a fair amount of coin laid aside which 
would enable us to go on to the Orient and bring 
us safely to another point where we could search 
for work. 

When off duty the inspectors lived at Watertown 
in quarters provided for them by the Hawaiian 
Dredging Company and ate their meals at a restau- 
rant conducted by Chinese. While on duty they slept 
and ate on the dredges which were located from 
one-half to two miles from shore in the channel. 
On each dredge there was set aside a room for in- 
spectors' quarters. These compartments on most of 
the dredges were furnished with two iron bunks for 
beds, several dynamite boxes for chairs and a greasy 
deck of cards for amusement. The occupant was 
never lonesome nor idle, for when he had nothing to 
do, which was most of the time, he could spend the 
weary hours reducing the number of rapidly multiply- 
ing bed-bugs. These dredges were literally alive with 
this human pest and as soon as we would reduce the 
flock to the point of comfort a new bunch of recruits 
would be ushered in with the arrival of another crew 
of men from the waterfront of Honolulu. The mess 
rooms with crude tables covered with oilcloth, with 
tinware and lack of service, could exhibit at meal 




S*>r * ' 




Upper: 



The Gaylord, the only Drag-bucket Dredger in Existen 

Lower : 

A Restaurant Where Nothing but "Grub" is Served 



CE 



INSPECTORS AT PEARL HARBOUR 31 

time the most unappetizing display of food ever 
placed before any man. Stewed tripe — weeks old — 
lamb stew, clam-chowder, bread apparently made of 
cement, butter with a stench so strong that it out- 
classed the odours of the other provisions, fermented 
tomato catsup and hot cakes with the consistency of 
horse pads, greeted the unwashed eaters three times 
a day. The eaters themselves were a curious exhibi- 
tion of mankind. The men employed on the dredges 
slept and ate their meals aboard and when they 
gathered in the mess room, as well as at all other 
times, the language and stories that wafted across 
the board were fit to hypnotize the devil. 

One morning as Richardson, somewhat late, was 
seating himself for breakfast the Chinese waiter, 
approaching the table, inquired automatically and in 
an interrogative tone, 

"Mush?" 

"Yes," said Richardson. 

"No mush," was the Chink's reply. 

This is a sample of the mental capacity of the 
Oriental servants on the dredges. How could indi- 
viduals with such brains cook anything fit for a white 
man to eat? These Chinese cooks and flunkeys 
were a greasy, unsanitary set and always wore aprons 
which looked more like those of a blacksmith than 
those of a kitchen artisan. 

The inspectors' time was so arranged that every 
second day we had thirty-two hours off and these 
we used to devote to various forms of recreation. 
In addition to renovating an old sail boat which 



32 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

we resurrected out of the mud flats of the harbour 
of Honolulu, we went swimming off the pontoon 
lines of the dredges, hunted on the Government re- 
serve or attended native luaus on the beach. The 
most interesting diversion was shark fishing. We 
always had a line out from each dredge in quest of 
both the hammer-head and man-eating sharks. On 
one occasion one of the crew observing that one of 
our lines was being jerked uttered a cry of "shark!" 
and in a moment we were all on deck pulling in the 
rope to land our catch. On the end of the line 
was a ten-foot man-eating shark and as we got 
the monster alongside the dredge one of the Hawai- 
ians, an expert swimmer, dived off the deck and 
proceeded to tie a rope around the body of the 
fish to enable us to hoist him aboard. The shark 
struggled and whipped about with his tail to such 
an extent that the native was unable to manipulate 
the rope with one hand, his other being employed 
in an effort to restrain the movements of the big 
creature. After several vain attempts to tie on the 
rope, the Hawaiian held the tail of the shark be- 
tween his teeth and thus, with the use of both hands, 
placed the line around the shark's belly and he was 
raised on deck. We at once set to and stripped the 
fish of all its flesh and in the course of a few hours 
the captain of the dredge was the proud possessor 
of a walking stick made from the circular bones of 
the spinal column of the shark. Such a cane is a 
novelty and a beauty. 

My roommate was an inspector, named Smith, 



INSPECTORS AT PEARL HARBOUR 33 

who had originally come from the back country of 
the State of Oregon. Each time he returned from 
Honolulu I observed, as he removed his coat, a 
revolver strapped over his left shoulder. 

"What is the pistol for?" I asked him one day. 

"I need it in my business," was Smith's reply. 

"What business are you in?" I inquired, a little 
curious. 

"I am travelling with another man's wife," said 
Smith. 

"That's rather dangerous business, isn't it?" I 
ventured, refraining from offering any advice to a 
man older than myself and one whom I knew but 
slightly. 

"The man is on my trail and I am ready for 
him," said Smith. I dismissed the incident as the 
boasting prank of a youth. Some months after- 
wards, however, the city of Honolulu was awak- 
ened from its daily routine by a shooting scrape 
which took place on one of the main streets at nine 
o'clock in the morning. Smith's talk was not mere 
youthful boasting. His assailant fired five shots 
at him, one catching him in the hip, and Smith re- 
plied with a generous bestowal of lead, firing several 
shots, one of which lodged in his opponent's lung. 
The first report was that Smith had killed his man. 
This was not true, however, and the two were taken 
to the hospital for treatment. 

Sentiment in Honolulu ebbed high against Smith 
and, when he recovered sufficiently to leave the hos- 
pital, it was impossible for him to obtain the three 



34 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

thousand dollars' bail for the charge of "assault 
with a deadly weapon with the intent to commit 
murder" which was lodged against him. He spent 
one night in jail and his fellow inspectors finally 
came to his rescue. Although not approving of his 
actions, we felt that now was the time to help the 
man when he was down and especially as Smith 
appeared very regretful. Richardson and I put up 
two hundred and fifty dollars each of the bail. 
The case dragged on for months and was not set- 
tled until after our departure from the Islands. 
Sometime later we learned that Smith was fined one 
thousand dollars and dismissed from the service of 
the Government. Such was my roommate. He 
may have been foolish, but no one could accuse 
him of being a coward. He was a likable fellow 
and had a world of good qualities. 

After a couple of months on the job as inspectors 
Richardson and I had a few dollars in our pockets 
and, feeling rather reckless one day, decided to pur- 
chase some sugar stock in the hope of making a 
stake and thus being enabled to continue the trip 
in comparative luxury. We each bought ten shares 
of the Oahu Sugar Company's stock at thirty dol- 
lars a share. In order to do this we had to borrow 
one hundred and fifty dollars each from a Honolulu 
bank. While we were building castles in the air 
concerning the big pile we were going to make, the 
slump in the market, usual when amateurs begin 
meddling with stocks, occurred and our shares 
dropped six points. With the drop of our stocks 



INSPECTORS AT PEARL HARBOUR 35 

came a drop in our hopes and we could picture our 
earnings of the past months vanishing as we stood 
helplessly by. We concluded that if there was no 
other way out of our financial difficulties we could 
at least stay on the job and earn what we had lost. 
In addition to our bail money for Smith and our 
loss on our high finance I had, either out of the 
goodness of my heart or because I was an easy 
mark, loaned out over two hundred dollars to ac- 
quaintances of mine who had put up tales of hard 
luck. With our finances in this state our trip for 
the present began to look somewhat dubious. How- 
ever, everything turned out all right and we climbed 
out of our financial tangle with profit. The last 
week of our stay in Hawaii we were both released 
from Smith's bail, our sugar stocks had gradually 
risen to two points higher than the figure at which 
we purchased them and I collected every cent of my 
loans. 

We had now been at Pearl Harbour several 
months and were anxious to be moving, so we started 
a vigorous campaign to make a getaway. Honolulu 
is simply a port of call and crews are not made up 
there and for this reason it is a poor place in which 
to be stranded, for it is next to impossible to sign 
on as a sailor on any ship. When off duty at Pearl 
Harbour we went to Honolulu and canvassed all 
the likely looking vessels for passage to either Aus- 
tralia or the Orient. The reception we received at 
the hands of the captains and stewards varied from 
the painfully courteous to the hardest of treatment. 



36 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

The skipper of a United States Army transport took 
us into his cabin, told us stories, gave us a drink 
but, true to his duty, refused to give us a lift across 
the Pacific. The steward of a Pacific Mail liner, 
whom we unfortunately caught ten minutes before 
the boat sailed — a busy time for a commissary chief, 
— disposed of us in short order. Seeing a man who 
filled the description given us, I hailed a greasy- 
looking fellow as he was hurriedly ascending the 
gangway and asked him, 

"Are you the steward?" 

"Yep; what do you want?" 

"May I have a minute of your time?" 

"No, sir, only a half a minute." Our case looked 
hopeless. 

"What are the chances for two of us to get a 
job?" 

"None. I have had enough of fellows like you. 
Get oft the gangway before I have you kicked off," 
shouted the chief cook as he beckoned to several 
deck hands to enforce his threat. There being noth- 
ing else to do, the two of us withdrew amid the 
laughter of the people on the pier who witnessed 
the dialogue. We retired to the opposite side of 
the wharf where we sat down, smoked a cigarette 
and talked the matter over. We felt pretty much 
subdued. 

We were novices at the game of procuring mari- 
time jobs and the old sea dogs with whom we had 
to deal knew it, but we concluded that the only way 
to get experience was to persevere. We started the 



INSPECTORS AT PEARL HARBOUR 37 

trip as tramps and now, for the first time, we realized 
that we actually were tramps; but we always clung 
to the idea that we were of the refined variety. 

Our next attempt towards obtaining passage was 
on a British tramp coal steamer plying between 
Honolulu and Australia. I was especially eager 
to go to Sydney because a friend of mine, touring 
the southern continent, had procured a job for me 
with a draying company in that city. The British 
tramp was to be painted on her return to Australia 
and as men were needed Richardson and I were 
signed on and our duties outlined. They consisted 
of knocking off the old paint on the side of the ship 
for twenty-one days. The skipper informed us that 
the boat was to get under way the following after- 
noon and that we ought to report for duty in the 
morning. We were on hand the next day but only 
to be disappointed, for there was no ship to be 
found. We learned that it had received orders to 
sail at once for Seattle and had left at midnight. 

We were now left in the lurch. We had tendered 
our resignations to the Secretary of the Navy and 
had severed our connection with the Pearl Harbour 
operations. To diminish our chances for passage 
to the Orient there was nothing going our way upon 
which there was the remotest chance of getting a 
job. Although we felt rather opulent after several 
months' work as inspectors we were reluctant to 
look up the rates to Yokohama on the regular liners 
— but decided to do so. We found that on the fol- 
lowing day the Asia, an intermediate steamer of the 



38 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

Pacific Mail Steamship Company, was due from 
San Francisco en route to Japan and that the fare 
was seventy-five dollars. This was a huge sum to 
part with at one blow, but when compared with the 
regular first-class fare of one hundred and fifty dol- 
lars on the larger boats looked like a saving. We 
also figured that by the time we had spent several 
months floundering around Australia, in spite of the 
money saved getting there, we should arrive in 
Manila several hundred dollars out. With these 
considerations we decided to take the Asia to Yoko- 
hama. 

We had spent a number of weeks in getting our 
baggage together and had reduced it to a scientific 
minimum. We agreed only to take a suitcase and 
a small hand bag each. In addition to these Rich- 
ardson was to bring his camera. Our baggage con- 
sisted of the following wearing apparel and fixtures: 
two suits of clothes each (one on our backs), one 
pair of heavy shoes, a cap, six soft shirts, two flannel 
shirts, a pair of overalls, a dozen socks, six sets of 
underwear, a dozen handkerchiefs, a rain coat, a 
few toilet articles, diaries and some stationery. The 
trip was not to be a dress affair and all hard boiled 
shirts, linen collars and evening clothes were dis- 
missed from the start. Even with our wardrobes 
reduced to this half civilized minimum, it required 
systematic packing and almost superhuman strength 
to close our suitcases. 

We closed up our affairs in Honolulu, put our 
money into American Bankers' Travelers' cheques, 



INSPECTORS AT PEARL HARBOUR 39 

ate a few farewell meals, drank a few final toasts 
and were in readiness to depart. The Asia was 
scheduled to leave at five in the afternoon. I was 
on the pier a few minutes before the appointed time, 
but there was no sign of Richardson. Five minutes 
to five — and Richardson had not arrived; four, 
three, two and one minute to five — and Richardson 
was nowhere to be found. Five o'clock — and no. 
Richardson. The lines of the ship were being 
loosened from the pier. I was on board; after hav- 
ing made arrangements with some navy men to have 
the government launch bring Richardson out to the 
Asia while she was turning in the stream or to tell 
him to meet me in Yokohama. At two minutes 
after five o'clock — just as the ship was getting under 
way — Richardson came running down the wharf 
armed with a suitcase, a small leather bag, a camera, 
a rain coat, a hair brush extending from one pocket, 
a bottle of tooth powder from another and a half a 
dozen small bundles hanging from any place where 
they could stick. The gangplank was lowered and 
he came aboard, while a handful of friends placed 
several Hawaiian leis about his perspiring neck. 

The Royal Hawaiian Band played Aloha Oe, 
the ship got under way and we began the second leg 
of our trip with seven hundred dollars each in our 
pockets. 



CHAPTER IV 

LIVING AS JAPANESE IN JAPAN 

The Asia proved to be a good ship and lazily 
ploughed her way across the Pacific in a manner to 
indicate that this trip was simply one in the cycle of 
many more to come. But this was her last, for on 
her return from Manila, she encountered a heavy 
fog off the coast of China and went head on into a 
large rock and anchored herself securely with her 
nose in the air and her stern submerged in the sea. 
Her passengers and crew were all saved and, after 
being pillaged by Chinese pirates, she was whipped 
off by the waves and sank into the water, a total 
wreck. 

Ten days of ocean travel spent with educated 
Japanese returning home, with United States Gov- 
ernment employes bound for Manila and other 
human beings of assorted sizes and miscellaneous 
occupations, and we reached the shores of Japan. 

From one of the Japanese on board we obtained 
a prospective itinerary. We made arrangements 
with Mr. A. Miyawaki, a young American-educated 
Japanese, who was returning to his native land after 
an absence of eight years, to accompany us for ten 
days. Miyawaki was a charming little fellow and 

40 



LIVING AS JAPANESE IN JAPAN 41 

had been assistant in dairying at the Kansas State 
Agricultural Experiment Station. We figured that 
with him as a travelling companion we had acquired 
a valuable guide. Although Japan was nearly as 
strange to him as it was to us — for he left when a 
boy — he knew the language, the lack of which knowl- 
edge we soon found to be a great obstacle. 

There are two ways to travel — one in luxury as 
a tourist, the other in discomfort as a tramp. What 
on earth is there so vulgar as the affluent, loud- 
voiced, inquisitive, lazy, coin-displaying American 
tourist? He splashes through Europe or the Orient 
with a Baedeker in one hand and a ten dollar bill 
or its equivalent in the other, glances at the cathe- 
drals and temples, eats a near-native meal especially 
arranged by Thomas Cook and Son, puts up at the 
expensive European or American hotels and flits 
from country to country — and imagines that he has 
seen all there is to see. Nearly every tourist on 
arriving in Japan goes directly to an Occidental hotel 
where he lives in Western fashion and luxury at 
Western prices and seldom, if ever, comes in con- 
tact with the natives. 

Richardson and I were not tourists but refined 
tramps. We decided to avoid religiously the Amer- 
ican and European hotels for two reasons — first, 
for economy, and second, for the interesting things 
we would see and learn. The man is fortunate who 
can get off without paving eight yen (four dollars) 
a day at the average Western hotel in an Oriental 
city, while around the corner at a Japanese inn it is 



42 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

possible to get a room and two meals for from 
one to three yen a day. There is not the same 
amount of comfort and luxury as is offered by the 
Occidental hotel, but there is a thousand times more 
interest. 

The Asia arrived in Tokyo Bay and the city of 
Yokohama loomed up before us. After a short 
customs examination, through which I managed to 
smuggle some American tobacco — for I had learned 
something of the inferior qualities of this commodity 
in Japan — we took a rickshaw each, from among 
the hundred or more that were waiting at the pier, 
and were off up the street. 

Miyawaki, our Japanese friend, accompanied us. 
Our rickshaws drew up to a Japanese inn and 
Miyawaki soon made arrangements for our rooms. 
We sat down on the little porch and took off our 
shoes, leaving them on the sidewalk along with a 
score of others, and put on a pair of slippers. After 
we were robed in kimonos, a dainty little maid pat- 
tered in with a tray load of provisions. She knelt 
down and spread before us the evening meal. Rice 
represented the bulk of the food and there were raw 
fish, a bowl of soup with one egg in it, a dish of 
boiled bamboo shoots, a plate of sweetened beans 
and a little receptacle containing some black flavour- 
ing sauce. The meal was concluded with several 
small bowls of tea. Richardson and I flew to this 
assortment almost like animals, we were so hun- 
gry. The little maid was much amused at our awk- 
ward efforts to manipulate the chop-sticks. Rice was 



LIVING AS JAPANESE IN JAPAN 43 

especially hard to handle with these two strips of 
wood. 

Richardson and I became so fond of rice before 
we had lived^long on that staple that we thought 
we could never again eat a meal without it. The 
Japanese understand how to prepare it and cook it 
in such a way that each grain is dry and separate 
from the others. The average dish of rice in Amer- 
ica tastes and looks like a mass of library paste. 

Life in a Japanese hotel is a continual round of 
novelties and interesting experiences to the unini- 
tiated Western traveller. Before entering the guest 
must remove his shoes — a more sensible custom 
than that of the Occident of removing the hat — for 
which tracks in the dirt? With a pair of house 
slippers to replace his shoes, the guest is ushered 
into his room, a compartment without any furniture 
except a Japanese screen and a picture or two. In 
winter there may be a stove, which consists of a 
small circular receptacle resembling a jardiniere and 
containing ashes — in the centre of which are a few 
live pieces of charcoal. As soon as the guest is in 
his room the proprietor enters with a blank form 
which is to be filled out and which gives a complete 
record of the new arrival — his age, occupation, 
home, reasons for being away from home, destina- 
tion, etc. This information is turned over by the 
inn-keeper to the chief of police and thus a close 
tab is kept on every visitor to a Japanese city. After 
this formality, the maid enters the room with a 
kimono and if you give her a chance will completely 



44 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

disrobe you. There are no chairs; nothing but a 
little mat upon which you coil in tailor fashion. 
There are no beds; retiring appliances consisting 
of a thin mattress and quilts which are spread out 
on the floor at bed-time each night and taken up 
again in the morning to be placed in compartments 
in the wall of the room. There is no dining table 
but in its place is a little tray, sometimes elevated 
on legs, brought in from the kitchen at meal times. 
There are no knives, forks and spoons, nor plates. 
In fact, everything that one would expect to find in 
an hotel is missing and some other device is in its 
place. Probably the most unusual feature to the 
Western traveller is the accommodation for taking 
a bath. This generally consists of a fair-sized room 
in which are a dozen or more little round wooden 
tubs where men, women and children all gather at 
the same time and unconcernedly perform their daily 
ablutions. 

This, briefly, is the lay-out which a traveller finds 
when he stays at a Japanese hotel. As much of a 
novelty as it was for Richardson and me to experi- 
ence the sensations of this kind of inn, it was an 
equal novelty for the Japanese to have us as guests. 
We often encountered considerable difficulty in con- 
vincing the proprietor that we really wished to stay 
at his hotel. In addition to the handicap of carry- 
ing on a conversation without the use of a language, 
for we knew nothing of Japanese, we frequently 
had to overcome the hotel man's notion that we 
were trying to play a joke on him. Once in the 



LIVING AS JAPANESE IN JAPAN 45 

hotel we were constantly the centre of attraction and 
source of interest not only to those employed about 
the place but also to the other guests. 

In our first Japanese hotel we acted as awkwardly 
as a cow on a polished floor. When it came time 
to go to bed Richardson became greatly embar- 
rassed as the pretty little Jap maid in a conscientious 
effort to perform her duty began to disrobe him. 
She first removed his coat, at which he gave no indi- 
cations of disapproval. She then began releasing 
his shirt and, as she proceeded, Rich's brow began 
to colour. He didn't murmur until she commenced 
to separate him from his trousers, which so startled 
the modest young man that he exploded with such a 
blast-like tone, "Whoa, Bill," that the poor girl, 
frightened nearly to death, took refuge in flight. 
Richardson continued the remainder of his disrob- 
ing without assistance. 

Privacy is unknown in Japan. Everybody knows 
every other person's business and little or no at- 
tempt is made towards secrecy. The walls of a 
Japanese house are built of heavy paper or very 
thin wood and the intimate conversation in one 
room can be heard in the next. From an American 
point of view the Japanese are immodest. In some 
ways they are more modest than we are. They 
think no more of exposing their bodies entirely nude 
than Europeans do of displaying their ungloved 
hands to a crowd. But this is not necessarily im- 
modesty. Modesty is a mental attitude and not the 
conforming to a certain code of rules. 



46 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

The bath-room in a Japanese hotel is often the 
most public part of the building. Especially is this 
the case in the country districts where Western influ- 
ence has had little or no effect. Although it is now 
a national regulation that the opposite sexes are 
not allowed to bathe together, this law is not en- 
forced in the country towns and even in some of the 
cities. Japan is a nation of bathers. There are 
said to be thirty thousand public bath-houses in the 
city of Tokyo alone and at five o'clock each evening 
thousands of people can be seen with towels over 
their arms wending their way for their daily wash. 
It is at this time that all the guests — men, women 
and children in the hotel — gather in the bath-room 
and splash about like a lot of youngsters, laughing 
and enjoying themselves. 

If we wanted to be clean we had to cast aside 
our provincial American ways and bathe in Japanese 
fashion. Richardson rather objected to this. On 
one occasion he went to the bath-room and returned 
almost immediately. 

"Have you finished your bath already?" I asked. 

"No, there are a lot of women in the tub," he 
replied, disgusted. 

"Why let them bother you? If they stand in 
your way you will not get a bath is long as you 
are in Japan. If the women don't object I am sure 
I don't," and, saying this, I went down stairs to the 
bath-room, where I performed my toilet with half 
a dozen men and women, in true Japanese style. 

Yokohama is the seaport of Tokyo and possesses 



LIVING AS JAPANESE IN JAPAN 47 

little of interest except the novelty of being the first 
Japanese city in which the traveller lands. We spent 
a day in Kamakura, a sea-side resort about twenty 
miles away, where we saw the Daibutsu, a bronze 
statue of the Great Buddha. 

Tokyo is but a few hours' ride from Yokohama. 
We arrived at the busy Shimbashi station and in a 
few moments were lodged in our second Japanese 
hotel. It was in this hotel that I upset all the social 
regulations by using soap in the bath-tub. As the 
same tub of water is often used by all the guests 
in the hotel, it is considered a great breach of eti- 
quette to climb into the bath and soap one's body in 
a civilized manner. This soaping process is sup- 
posed to be carried on before getting into the tub 
and the body is to be thoroughly rinsed off by means 
of dippers or basins before entering the bath for 
a final soak. I was not aware of these minute de- 
tails of Japanese bath procedure and went at this 
cleansing operation in the Saturday night fashion 
customary in rural America. The result was that 
all the succeeding bathers had to wash in soap-suddy 
water. I was completely ostracized. 

We were fortunate to visit Japan during the 
season of the year when the cherry blossoms were 
in full bloom. Ueno Park, probably the most popu- 
lar resort in Tokyo, was a forest of these trees, 
laden with millions of sweet-scented flowers. Thou- 
sands of people gathered each afternoon in this 
public park to rest and enjoy the beauty of the blos- 
soms for which Japan is famous. 



48 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

It was in this park that I decided to give up smok- 
ing. I had paused on one of the walks and was 
rolling a cigarette with some "Bull Durham" I had 
smuggled into the country, when a Japanese police- 
man came up to me and, with a few words which 
I did not understand, unceremoniously took the 
"makings" from me. I stood half stunned with sur- 
prise. I soon realized that I had exposed my to- 
bacco to confiscation, disregarding a warning given 
me by a Japanese passenger on our steamer across 
the Pacific. I had previously tried the cigarettes sold 
in the native shops but couldn't become accustomed 
to them. Relieved of my American supply I decided 
to give up smoking altogether — for a time. To- 
bacco is a government monopoly in Japan and there 
is a prohibitive duty on all foreign importations 
of it. 

One evening we visited the Yoshiwara, described 
in the guide books as the most famous tenderloin 
section in the world. It is a considerable distance 
from the business portion of the city and consists 
of about one hundred houses. There are nearly 
two thousand women in the district and during the 
evening they sit behind iron barred windows, similar 
to an American dry goods display window. Seated 
in a row, in front of several elaborately decorated 
screens, eight or more tastily dressed women of each 
establishment spend their time smoking or painting 
their faces, while the curious crowds flock by and 
look them over. What struck me more forcibly than 
anything else was the character of the sightseers. I 



LIVING AS JAPANESE IN JAPAN 49 

saw a middle-aged man with his eighteen-year-old 
daughter leisurely spending an hour in this section. 
Two mothers with infants on their backs were in- 
terestedly going the rounds and a young married 
couple was a pair that came to my notice. Thou- 
sands of people flowed to and fro on the narrow 
streets and for a moment I thought the whole of 
Tokyo had congregated in this place for the evening. 
I was told that the Yoshimara was at one time oper- 
ated by the municipal government of Tokyo but 
that now, due to the influence of the British and 
American Salvation Army representatives, it is car- 
ried on independently but is closely watched and 
regulated by city officials. 

Japan is a land of beautiful memorials to her 
dead heroes. At Nikko to the north of Tokyo we 
spent a delightful week, where resting among the 
cryptomeria on the hillside, are the bodies of Ieyasu 
and Iyemitsu, two Shoguns of the Tokugawa Dy- 
nasty. These two tombs are the objective points 
for thousands of pilgrims each year. In addition 
to the natural beauty of the spot and the mausoleums 
of these rulers of mediaeval Japan, there are a dozen 
or more interesting buildings and temples dedicated 
to various saints and containing collections of relics 
and Buddhist scriptures. These edifices represent 
the best in Japanese art. 

Richardson and I walked to Lake Chuzenji, which 
lies in the hills, about ten miles beyond Nikko. We 
started early on a bitterly cold morning and ascended 
the beautiful mountain-side by a wandering and pic- 



So JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

turesque path. The lake was nearly entirely frozen 
over. There was, however, an open space near the 
shore and prompted by a notion to do something to 
startle the simple people who lived in the village 
on the bank of the lake, we disrobed and took a dip 
in the icy water. It was impossible for two human 
beings to take such a cold plunge and do so in silence. 
The temperature of the water was indicated by 
the shrieks we made as we splashed about. These 
calls attracted the attention of the people near-by 
and in a few moments two score or more of men, 
women and children assembled to see two insane 
foreigners dabbling about like idiots in water that 
was several degrees below. 

Japanese trains are very similar to those of Amer- 
ica. If I were asked to state the most striking dif- 
ference between them I would say — the politeness 
of the officials and the train crews. We were on our 
way from Tokyo to Nagoya and were seated on one 
of the two long benches which run lengthwise in the 
car. I had made the acquaintance of the native 
passenger next to me. Presently there appeared at 
one end of the coach a man in uniform whom I rec- 
ognized as the conductor. He called out and then 
made three deep bows, at the same time making the 
sucking sound of etiquette common in Japan. All 
the passengers responded to the conductor's courtesy 
by bending their heads, and making this peculiar 
hissing noise. I thought everybody had suddenly 
begun to eat soup. This painful and rather dis- 
gusting performance continued for nearly two min- 



LIVING AS JAPANESE IN JAPAN 51 

utes. Finally, every one sat at attention. The 
conductor in a clear and reverent voice said some- 
thing, bowed and departed. My curiosity was 
aroused and I asked my native acquaintance what 
had happened. He informed me that the conductor 
had announced that the next station was Toyohashi. 
What a contrast, I thought, to the American brake- 
man who brushes his way through a crowded day 
coach, shoving people aside and treading on their 
feet, and with a rasping voice announces the next 
station in such a way that no one can understand 
him. 

At first we found the language a big obstacle and 
it required much patience and often over an hour 
to make our hotel arrangements. On account of our 
association with the natives, however, we soon 
picked up a small vocabulary and this we acquired 
scientifically. Richardson had about one hundred 
words in his head and I had an equal number, and 
in neither set were there duplications. This is a 
case of applying the principles of efficiency. Rich- 
ardson learned to count to one hundred and was 
the financial conversationalist, while I confined my 
knowledge to brief and snappy literary efforts. We 
would enter a shop and select an article, and I would 
then inquire the price of it in Japanese and Rich- 
ardson would interpret the shopkeeper's reply. By 
this team work we were able to navigate in a lan- 
guage which takes years to master. 

A characteristic impracticability of most Oriental 
languages, and as much so of the Japanese as any, 



52 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

is the large number of words and phrases neces- 
sary to make a brief statement or convey a simple 
idea. There is a great deal of formality, set phrases 
and polite sayings, which must be complied with, 
before the speaker gets down to the point. What 
an American can say in half a dozen words will 
require as many sentences in Japan. We were con- 
tinually confronted with this. On one occasion we 
wished to ascertain where a certain street was and 
Miyawaki inquired of a passer-by. After talking 
to him for nearly ten minutes, only stopping when 
Richardson suggested that he knock off, he trans- 
lated the conversation to mean "The next street." 

At Nagoya I looked up Taisuke Murakami, a 
young Japanese who had been one of my pupils in 
Iolani School in Honolulu and who had since re- 
turned to Japan. He was attending a military 
academy in Nagoya. Richardson and I visited this 
institution and were received with much considera- 
tion and respect. Through Murakami we were 
given a good entree and were curiously inspected as 
samples of American pedagogues. 

We spent the evening at a motion picture theatre 
where an American reel illustrated the uninterest- 
ing details of an American love story. When it 
came time to settle our hotel bill I found that my 
friend Murakami had paid for both Richardson and 
myself. I didn't like him to do this, for I knew he 
couldn't afford it. It was a sample of* Japanese hos- 
pitality. 

This trait of the Oriental compels me to sermon- 



LIVING AS JAPANESE IN JAPAN 53 

ize. Occidentals, and especially Americans, consider 
that they are superior to the rest of the world. We 
often feel that our ways are the only ways, that our 
customs are right and that those of other peoples 
are wrong. After one has visited many Oriental 
countries and has had time to get their point of 
view and to understand their ways he begins to 
doubt the reasonableness and feasibility of many of 
our American customs. He certainly gets over that 
feeble notion that our way of doing things is the 
only way. 

The Japanese have their faults, but no one can 
accuse them of being prudes, of having false mod- 
esty. They are a more modest race of people than 
Americans. They have no foolish notions about 
concealing the human body, but their average of 
morals is every whit as high as that in America. 
We talk a great deal among ourselves of our won- 
derful hospitality, but when compared to this qual- 
ity in the Japanese we don't possess the first 
principles of this virtue. Our hospitality is of a 
collective variety. Our cities will entertain most 
lavishly and we will give them our support as long as 
we don't have to come in contact with the recipients. 
In our homes we only entertain our friends or per- 
sons with worthless pedigrees. But the supreme 
test of hospitality is when one is willing and glad 
to take in the total stranger, a foreigner perhaps, 
and house and feed him as a member of the family. 
Imagine an American family taking into its house- 
hold a pair of strange Japanese who were travelling 



54 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

through their city. It is futile to consider it. But 
this is exactly what the Japanese did to Richardson 
and myself in many instances. Absolute strangers 
to us — and we to them — they extended to us the 
most cordial invitations to come to their homes and 
enjoy their hospitality indefinitely. Many of these 
we accepted and always departed full of amazement 
at the wonderful exhibitions of kindness and hos- 
pitality. 

Kyoto is the prize of Japan. It is a city of six 
hundred thousand inhabitants, only fifty of whom 
are foreigners and these mostly missionaries. The 
result of this small number of Occidentals is that 
Kyoto still retains its Japanese charm and has very 
few of the vulgar and commercialized features of 
the West. 

The city was celebrating the seven hundredth an- 
niversary of the Jodo sect of the Buddhist religion 
and its streets were crowded with thousands of peo- 
ple from the surrounding small towns and country 
districts. All the places of worship were thronged 
with pilgrims and the huge Hongwanji Temple, the 
largest in Kyoto, was a bee-hive of peasants who 
flowed in and out to bestow their gifts and offer 
up a prayer. 

Kissing seems to be largely a Western custom, for 
such a means of showing affection is not used in the 
Orient except by a mother to her child. It was in 
Kyoto that Richardson and I thought it would be a 
good idea to introduce the practice into Japan. 
While buying provisions each day in the bakery, 



LIVING AS JAPANESE IN JAPAN 55 

grocery and fruit shops, we would slyly creep up 
and place our lips to the rosy cheek of the shop- 
keeper's wife or daughter. They hardly knew how 
to take us. None of them was offended. Some 
looked at us with pity, thinking that we must have 
some affliction like the St. Vitus' dance, which took 
the form of flying towards women's faces every few 
minutes. Even the husbands of these women took 
our advances in a matter-of-fact way and considered 
our osculations simply one of our many idio- 
syncrasies. 

While in Kyoto Richardson and I put up at the 
native Y. M. C. A. building which had just been 
completed. We occupied an unfurnished room 
which was placed at our disposal, free of charge, 
by the advisory secretary, an American. We slept 
on the floor and were well used to the absence of 
furniture. 

One morning Richardson casually remarked that 
the American secretary had offered him a teaching 
job in China and that he had turned it down. 

"Why did you do that?" I inquired. 

"Because I did not want to separate from you," 
was Richardson's reply. 

"Nonsense," I said, "we are not married, and if 
we wait until we get comfortable berths together in 
the same town we shall never get anywhere. Open 
up the matter again and land the job if you can." 

Although we each still had plenty of the money 
which we had accumulated in Hawaii, we were will- 
ing to stop off and work for a short time and become 



56 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

better acquainted with a city and its people. So 
Richardson took up the matter again with the Y. M. 
C. A. secretary and received the position. It was 
to teach in a middle or high school in Tientsin at a 
salary of seventy dollars a month. 

I agreed to accompany him to Tientsin and from 
there go on through China alone and meet him sev- 
eral months later in Manila. Before leaving Japan 
we got into serious trouble. 



CHAPTER V 

ARRESTED AS SPIES IN JAPAN 

For two weeks we led an indolent life in Kyoto. 
Then the craving for the trail struck us again and 
with the help of an American, who had long resided 
in Japan, we mapped out an itinerary that would 
carry us into a remote country, penetrated by less 
than half a dozen foreigners. In the early morn- 
ing we set out from Kyoto on foot, and we did not 
know that we were plunging headlong into an ad- 
venture which would reverberate clear into the De- 
partment of State at Washington before we again 
mingled in the bustling crowds of Kyoto. 

On the shore of Lake Biwa we boarded a steamer 
and sailed fifty miles to the village of Imasu. A 
night in a Japanese inn, and we walked twenty-five 
miles, the following day, to Obama on the Sea of 
Japan. We passed through an endless chain of pic- 
turesque villages. Our entrance to these small towns 
was a great source of interest to the inhabitants, 
who rushed to the doors or windows of their shops 
and houses, or poured into the streets to look us 
over. They scanned our clothes with the frankest 
sort of curiosity. They were especially impressed 
with our heavy leather shoes which they examined 
carefully, usually turning away to hide their smiles. 

57 



58 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

In village after village we caused a cessation of 
business and household duties until we were out of 
sight. Our advent and departure were probably the 
main topic of discussion the rest of the day. 

At Obama we devoted a full hour to vigorous ges- 
ticulation with our hands before we could convey 
the idea into the head of an inn proprietor that we 
wanted a bed. 

That night we slept on the footstool of adventure. 

At dawn we sailed out of the narrow cove into 
the Sea of Japan. The coast on this run is a beauti- 
ful panorama of bays and inlets supported in the 
background by richly wooded hills. Green and 
pretty villages stud the shore. 

Richardson was taken with the beauty of these 
villages. He unslung his camera and snapped a 
picture of one of them from the steamer deck. The 
kodak was barely back in its case before a deck hand 
skipped to the captain's cabin and made a report. 
The captain summoned Richardson posthaste. The 
whole ship bristled with excitement. 

It developed that we were in Maisuru Bay, the 
chief naval base of Japan, and therefore one of the 
zones in which it is unlawful to take pictures. Rich- 
ardson refused to get excited. He gave the captain 
the roll of film, together with his Kyoto address, 
requested him to have it developed, destroy the il- 
legal picture and return the others. The captain 
said he would. We thought the incident was closed. 

But it wasn't. It had just begun. In a few min- 
utes our steamer was at the dock and we went down 



ARRESTED AS SPIES IN JAPAN 59 

the gangway to board a train for our return trip 
to Kyoto. I had sunk comfortably down into my 
seat and opened a book when a Japanese in uniform 
rushed up waving his hands and shouting at me in 
his native language. 

"Beat it," I said. I thought he was crazy. The 
excited officer stood moving his hands in a manner 
which would indicate in a Western country that he 
wanted me to remain where I was. The impatient 
man finally left the car. Richardson came in. 

"What in blazes is the matter with that Jap? 
He must be drunk," I said. 

"He's a cop. We are both under arrest for that 
picture," said Richardson. "The captain reported 
it to the police." 

The officer in uniform came back twisting his 
hands in the air like an insane man. I didn't real- 
ize that these movements were equivalent to the 
American beckoning sign, so I remained seated. He 
lurched over and gripped my shoulder. Richardson 
had gone out. I got up and in three seconds found 
myself with him in the midst of two hundred incensed 
natives. 

Other police and a couple of military officers had 
come up. Richardson's camera had been taken from 
him. We stood in the midst of this gathering while 
the uniformed officers held a conference. We 
couldn't understand a word. They finally led us 
away. For an hour Richardson and I, accompanied 
by two policemen, marched abreast. We concluded 
that they had decided to walk us to death. At last 



60 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

we arrived at an edifice from which a Japanese flag 
was flying, and in front of which two sentinels stood 
on duty. This was the military police court and 
prison. We were ushered in and were greeted by 
half-a-dozen officers in uniforms who bowed and 
bobbed around with as much ceremony as though 
we were two caliphs of Bagdad. They were the 
politest lot of policemen we ever saw. 

The military judge was on the bench and we were 
taken into his presence with many smiles and sa- 
laams. We tried to tell the judge that we loved the 
Japanese people very dearly and we wanted to go 
back to Kyoto. He couldn't understand a word. 
No one else could. We had nothing to do but wait 
for an interpreter, whom one of the clerks of the 
court was sent out to obtain. The Japanese were 
very serious. We were not impressed and made 
irreverent remarks about the judge and the court 
officials. 

We waited until noon and as we were hungry we 
made this fact known by means of writing, for one 
of the clerks could read English, after a fashion, but 
could not speak it. Permission was granted us to 
dine. Richardson asked the court to pay the bill. 
The request, after an half-hour conference, was re- 
fused. We set out with two policemen to a Japa- 
nese hotel where we ate a fifteen-minute meal in an 
hour and a half while the two officers remained on 
guard at the door. 

In the afternoon the "interpreter" came. We 
expected to see an American or, at least, some one 



ARRESTED AS SPIES IN JAPAN 61 

who understood the English language. Instead 
there stood before us a little Jap who looked like a 
miniature pugilist and knew about as much English 
as a two-year-old child. He started his cross-exami- 
nation by the regular preliminary bows and genu- 
flections and kept at this performance for so long 
a time that when he began to speak we expected a 
masterpiece. His first utterance was, 

"I am sorry the ^-vent has happened." 

"So are we, old top," put in Richardson. "But 
cut out this nonsense. We have a date in Kyoto." 
Richardson might as well have been talking to a 
parsnip. 

The cross-examination finally got under way and 
proceeded laboriously. We were asked every con- 
ceivable question, — our names, ages, nationalities, 
occupations, parents' names and their occupations, 
our reasons for being away from home, the length 
of time we had been away from the United States, 
where were we going and why, had we ever been 
convicted of any crime in America, our reason for 
taking the picture, our domicile and acquaintances 
in Kyoto. These and many more questions were 
asked us extending over a period of six hours. 

Under the heading of occupation, we stated that 
we were school teachers, being the first and most 
harmless vocation we could think of. Right here, 
the court found a huge inconsistency. This vocation 
did not compare with the records received from the 
hotel registers. Every guest, on arrival at an hotel, 
is required to give his occupation when registering 



62 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

and this is turned over to the police with the other 
information. Richardson and I, not having any 
definite vocation, signed up under different callings 
in each hotel. We dug up all the antiquated and 
unusual means of earning a living that our imagi- 
nations could muster. The list included ventriloquist, 
crutch-maker, chiropodist, clairvoyant, boiler-maker, 
hypnotist and wig-maker. The judge confronted us 
with this array of honourable vocations, which he 
had obtained from the police records, and demanded 
an explanation. Richardson rose to the occasion. 
In a short time he had us out of the trap. He ex- 
plained that English was very flexible ; that it was a 
language replete with synonyms; and that it con- 
tained numerous words which meant the same thing. 
He went into a lengthy dissertation in which he thor- 
oughly convinced the judge that crutch-maker, chi- 
ropodist, etc., all meant school teacher and that each 
simply emphasized a different phase of the vocation. 

The questioning convinced the court that it had 
little hold on me except as an accomplice of Rich- 
ardson. The latter was the man caught in the act. 
On my suggestion they allowed me to return to 
Kyoto accompanied by an officer. Richardson was 
held all night for further examination. 

I arrived in Kyoto about midnight and immedi- 
ately retired. In the morning I met the advisory 
secretary of the Y. M. C. A. who had heard of our 
trouble by telegraph, as the Maisuru authorities 
had referred our story to him for verification. The 
news of the incident had spread throughout Japan. 



ARRESTED AS SPIES IN JAPAN 63 

Great crowds gathered in front of the Kyoto news- 
paper offices where bulletins announced that two 
American spies had been arrested at Maisuru and 
that in their possession were found pictures of bat- 
tleships, sketches of harbours and plans of forts. 
The newspaper accounts described us as poor men, 
due to the fact that Richardson, expecting he would 
have to put up a bond, said he had but twelve yen, 
when asked the amount of money he had. The re- 
port that we were poverty stricken was also due to 
the fact that we wore blue flannel shirts, the proper 
attire for walking — but not one in which the Jap- 
anese are accustomed to see Americans. The press 
reports also referred to us as suspicious looking 
characters and stated that we did not take the mat- 
ter seriously, as we jested in the courtroom. 

The following account under the heading, "The 
Spy Scare — American Photographers Arrested," was 
taken from an English paper in Kobe and is a trans- 
lation of an article which appeared in a Japanese 
journal : 

"We learn from a Maisuru despatch to the Asahi 
that two foreign passengers on the Daiichi Hashu 
date-maru which arrived at Maisuru at 9 : 20 A. M. 
on the 2 1 st from Obama, photographed the first 
section of the Maisuru Naval Station when the 
steamer approached the entrance to the harbour 
of Shim-Maisuru. They took over ten pictures, 
which distinctly showed even the warships in the 
harbour. The action was observed by some mem- 
bers of the crew of the steamer and, upon arrival 



64 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

at Maisuru, they reported the matter to the Mai- 
suru gendarmerie station through the Maisuru 
Water Police. Gendarmes immediately appeared 
on board the steamer and arrested the foreigners 
and conducted them to the gendarmerie station. 
Upon examination they were found to be two Amer- 
icans from California named Richardson (aged 24) 
and Fletcher (aged 26). Mr. Richardson, continues 
the despatch, is the son of a doctor, and was teach- 
ing at a school in Honolulu. In October he left 
Honolulu with Mr. Fletcher for a tour around the 
world, and they arrived at Yokohama on the 1st 
instant. Proceeding to Kyoto, they took up their 
quarters at the Christian Institute at Sanjo-dori, and 
on the 19th instant left Kyoto for a tour in the in- 
terior. They took a steamer at Otsu and proceeded 
to Imasu and Obama. They spent two days at the 
latter place and left there on the morning of the 21st 
by the H ashidate-maru for Maisuru. They stated 
that they had no ulterior motives in photographing 
the Naval Station, but, concludes the despatch, their 
behaviour when they took the photographs was sus- 
picious. The fact that the two foreigners were not 
very well dressed, and had no more than twelve yen 
in their possession, appears to have aroused sus- 
picion. Eventually they were handed over to the 
Procurator's office, where they are now being exam- 
ined by Procurator Ogata." 

On the morning after my arrival in Kyoto I was 
interviewed by the Chief of Police of that city, as- 
sisted by an interpreter. During the examination 



ARRESTED AS SPIES IN JAPAN 65 

the door opened and outside stood Richardson who 
had been escorted from Maisuru by an officer. We, 
however, were not allowed to get together and dis- 
cuss the matter for fear we would frame up a story. 
The Chief of Police first finished with me and then 
called Richardson in for a session. 

We were advised by the American secretary of the 
Y. M. C. A. not to volunteer the statement that we 
had been in the employ of the United States Navy 
Department in Hawaii. He said if the Japanese 
authorities got this information, it would be very 
difficult for us to prove that we were not spies and 
in that event the case would have to be handled by 
the American Embassy. This, he thought, would 
mean our detention in the country for a couple of 
months. Fortunately, a question of this nature was 
not asked us. 

Accounts of the affair were printed in all the lead- 
ing papers of the Far East, including Japan, Korea, 
China and the Philippines. The Associated Press 
obtained the news and the dailies of the Pacific Coast 
in America displayed several columns of distorted 
accounts. A Honolulu journal considered it of suf- 
ficient importance to give it the following full front 
page headline: "Honolulu Men Languish in a Jap- 
anese Jail." 

This was not all. The news had found its way 
to Washington, and our little incident of Maisuru 
Bay set the wheels of diplomacy of two nations in 
motion. My brother, reading the Associated Press 
reports in the San Francisco papers and imagining 



66 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

that we were being subjected to Oriental tortures in 
a Japanese jail, telegraphed the State Department 
at Washington. He received the following reply 
from Mr. Huntington Wilson, Acting Secretary of 
State at that time, under President Taft: "Depart- 
ment telegraphed Embassy at Tokyo to-day to ascer- 
tain facts and endeavour to secure your brother's re- 
lease." The ambassador in Tokyo got in touch with 
the situation and replied that Richardson and I were 
being well treated and that as soon as proved inno- 
cent would be liberated. This information was sent 
to my brother by the State Department. 

In the meantime we were battling with the Jap- 
anese authorities in Kyoto. We wanted to get back 
our camera. It was a regulation to confiscate all 
cameras which had been used in taking illegal pic- 
tures. We finally convinced the police that we had 
no ulterior motives and, after promising to leave 
Japan at once and giving an itinerary of our route 
out of the country, we were released. The Kyoto 
Chief of Police returned the camera, with an im- 
pressive speech, and the two of us retired from the 
courtroom without ceremony, while the numerous 
officials nearly broke their backs bowing. By a mis- 
take the objectionable picture was left in the camera 
and we departed with the film of the little Maisuru 
Bay village in our possession. 

Nor did the incident end here. We left immedi- 
ately for Kobe, and from there took the Inland Sea 
trip as far south as Miajima. We had supposed that 
all the nonsense over our arrest had ended and that 




< 

D 

o 

Q 
w 



u 



ARRESTED AS SPIES IN JAPAN 67 

we were free from the pest of Japanese police. But 
there was more to come. We spent a day at Mia- 
jima, undisturbed by officials, the first time in several 
days, for the reason that we omitted to put this 
place on the itinerary. From Miajima we went by 
train to Chimeneseki and thence across by boat to 
Fusan in Korea. Being still in Japanese territory we 
were greeted by two policemen, who had received a 
cable to watch out for a couple of Americans and 
keep them moving. After a few hours in Fusan, un- 
der competent guards, we went on to Seoul. 

We arrived after dark, and as our train was pull- 
ing into the station we saw two policemen on the 
right hand side of the track. We stole a march on 
these officers of the law by getting out on the left 
side. We scrambled around the rear of the train 
and were soon in rickshaws and in a few minutes 
were registered guests of a Japanese hotel. The 
proprietor sent the usual records to the police sta- 
tion, but before the officers were detailed on our 
trail we were up and out at an early hour the next 
morning. We went to the Y. M. C. A. where we 
were the guests of two young Koreans. 

The police spent the day looking for us and did 
not locate us until evening, when they found us 
dining at an American private home. They had 
evidently been given instructions to watch every 
movement we made, for during the rest of our 
week's stay in Seoul we were each accompanied by 
an officer. 

To add to our reputation as undesirable citizens, 



68 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

a Japanese guide, travelling with a Thomas Cook 
and Son party on our train into Seoul, reported to the 
police that there were two suspicious looking char- 
acters on board. This information, coupled with 
our already unsavoury reputation, made the officers 
exceptionally vigilant. What, we could do to harm 
the innocent inhabitants of Seoul or damage their 
meagre possessions is a mystery. 

Day and night these little fellows kept watch. 
They marched by our side as we took in the sights 
of the city and at night two of them were stationed 
on the steps of the Y. M. C. A. building to see that 
we didn't make a midnight getaway and shoot up 
the town. They went so far as to regulate our en- 
gagements. We were invited to be guests of a prom- 
inent Japanese family during our stay in Seoul but 
the police issued an order that we could not accept. 
They gave as their reasons that we were moving 
about too much and that it would be embarrassing 
for a respected household to entertain two criminals. 

I had received an invitation to dine with some 
English friends and had accepted, determined to 
keep this engagement even if doing so caused inter- 
national complications. While the policemen were 
at their posts on the front steps of the Y. M. C. A. 
I left the house by the back door, climbed over the 
fence, jumped into a rickshaw and was on my way. 
After a good meal and a pleasant evening I returned 
to the Y. M. C. A. about eleven o'clock and walked 
up the front steps between the two officers. From a 
semi-doze they were instantly transformed into two 



ARRESTED AS SPIES IN JAPAN 69 

of the most excited and enraged men I have ever 
seen. The characteristic etiquette of the Far East 
was forgotten and they bestowed upon me numerous 
epithets which, if translated, would probably have 
taught me all the profanity in the Japanese language. 
I left them on the steps and went to bed. 

This incident made the police especially watchful 
next day, but in spite of their precautions we played 
horse with them. We had had enough of this non- 
sense and decided to leave Seoul without notifying 
our escorts. We framed up a scheme for our escape 
which we carried out in such a manner that it ap- 
peared as though we were experienced crooks. 

Through an American we made arrangements to 
ship our baggage to Chemulpo and, relieved of our 
belongings, we thought we could make short work 
of the police. It was about ten o'clock on a dark 
night. We were in a native shop buying fruit. The 
police stood at the entrance engrossed in conversa- 
tion. 

"Now is the time to make our getaway," I said. 

"I am ready," said Richardson. "What's your 
plan?" 

Our train would not leave for an hour. In a few 
hurried words I suggested that we slip out the back 
door, light out separately for the station and meet 
as soon as we could. 

"All right," said Richardson, "if we can't outrun 
these short-legged pests we are no good." 

We stole out into the alley and made a dash, 
each in an opposite direction. The shopkeeper 



70 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

called to the police but our flight had been too sud- 
den for them. They stood petrified. The moment's 
hesitation was all we needed. By the time they had 
come to a conclusion that they should pursue us, we 
were out of sight. We ran down alleys, hurdling 
fences and seeking the dark streets. Richardson 
plunged through some one's private yard, mutilat- 
ing the flower beds, tearing his trousers on the gar- 
den fence and before long was at the station. I 
completed the home-stretch of my escape by grab- 
bing a rickshaw, placing the coolie in the seat, giv- 
ing him my hat and playing the part of horse myself. 
It took ten minutes' persuasion and five yen to induce 
the man to agree to such an arrangement. A coolie 
will do anything for money. In this way I sauntered 
down the street, unnoticed, pulling an Oriental over- 
come with amazement. Two blocks from the sta- 
tion I discharged the rickshaw and walked towards 
the freight yards. In three-quarters of an hour we 
found one another and crawled into a box-car to 
wait for the departure of our train. 

The police had lost the scent and we were free. 
We spent a few hours in Chemulpo, the first real 
freedom we had enjoyed for weeks. From Che- 
mulpo we took a steamer and after a day at Dairen 
in Southern Manchuria, en route, we turned our at- 
tentions to China and forgot our Japanese troubles. 



CHAPTER VI 

A PROFESSOR IN A CHINESE COLLEGE 

China proved to be a land of surprise. As we 
began our travels in this vast empire we little real- 
ized that we were on the eve of an interesting chain 
of experiences. I intended to press on and, as a 
simple tourist, see the country. I had no idea of 
searching for a job. My tentative plans were to be 
upset and I didn't have the remotest notion what 
the next few months had in store for me. 

We landed at Taku, a small seacoast town and 
port of Tientsin. We were soon passed through the 
customs officials and started for the railroad station 
a half-mile distant. 

Several Chinese coolies solicited the job of car- 
rying our two suitcases. We turned them over to 
an old fellow who tied them together with a rope 
and swung them over his shoulder and walked along 
a few paces behind us. When we reached the sta- 
tion we purchased two third-class tickets to Tien- 
tsin. This expenditure took all our loose money ex- 
cept a small Korean coin, an American ten-dollar 
gold piece and our bankers' checks. The coolie 
turned over our bags with his hand extended for his 
compensation. We did the best we could and offered 
him the Korean coin, worth about two American 

71 



72 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

cents. He refused it. The only other coin we had, 
the American ten-dollar gold piece, was too much 
for two tramps to separate themselves from for such 
a small service. However, we offered the coolie 
this money. The coin was strange to him and he 
refused it also. We then made an effort to ex- 
change the gold piece for Chinese currency but there 
were no money changers about. Our coolie friend 
could not understand our failure to pay our debts. 
We had done everything we could think of in the 
line of money, so we opened our bags and offered 
him pieces of wearing apparel, articles from our 
limited toilet sets and steamship time-tables. He 
refused them all. There was nothing for us to do 
now but to stand by and wait for our train which 
was due in about an hour. The patience of the 
coolie became exhausted and he exploded in an un- 
intelligible wrangle of Chinese. We could not un- 
derstand him nor could we explain matters to the 
poor fellow. He finally called a policeman. This 
gentleman arrived and began quietly and deliber- 
ately pouring out the musical chatter of his native 
tongue, and seeing no response from us in the way 
of coin he, too, blossomed into an excited oration. 
The station master came out and joined the chorus 
and in a short time we were surrounded by a score 
or more celestials whose denunciations became more 
and more frantic. We were helpless. The climax 
was rapidly approaching when our train pulled into 
the station. We hurried aboard our car and started 
off for Tientsin, leaving the poor coolie unpaid with 



PROFESSOR IN CHINESE COLLEGE 73 

his madly shouting compatriots who collectively 
made such a disturbance as the little village of Taku 
has probably never witnessed before or since. 

At Tientsin we went directly to the Y. M. C. A. 
where Richardson reported for his school teaching 
position. We met the man in charge who informed 
Richardson of his duties, which were to begin in a 
few days and which consisted of teaching physics 
at seventy dollars a month in a middle or high school. 

While at lunch we met a clean-cut, jovial Chinese 
by the name of Samuel Sung Young. He spoke ex- 
cellent English and I soon learned from him that 
he was a graduate of the University of California 
with the class of 1904, I having graduated in 1907. 
This placed us on an intimate footing at once. 
Young was curious to know what we were doing so 
far away from home. I explained that we were out 
seeing the earth and in a joking way asked him if he 
knew of any loose jobs. He replied in the negative 
but asked for my address in Peking where I expected 
to be the next two weeks. I little thought that my 
question was the beginning of one of the most in- 
teresting experiences of the trip. 

Young was in Tientsin on business from Tang- 
shan, a small town about two hundred miles to the 
north, where he was president of the Tangshan En- 
gineering College, one of the Chinese Imperial Gov- 
ernment's Schools. 

The Tientsin Middle School, in which Richardson 
was to teach, proved to be a large modern brick 
building, its class rooms and laboratories fairly well 



74 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

equipped with the latest Western appliances. One 
of the requirements for entrance into this school was 
a speaking knowledge of the English language. Oth- 
erwise Richardson would have been more useless 
than he was. Physics was an almost unknown sci- 
ence to him, but he concluded that if he could not 
bluff it out that he was an authority on the subject 
he was willing to take the consequences. 

During the time that Richardson was connected 
with this institution the first annual track meet of 
the schools of North China was held on its athletic 
grounds. The contest was planned and supervised 
largely by Americans and the Chinese took a great 
interest in it. Many schools in the northern part of 
the Empire sent teams, and several thousand people 
attended the meet. Among the distinguished spec- 
tators, who occupied a box, was the Viceroy of Chili 
Province with a score of attendants. Richardson 
worried the old fellow almost to death by taking 
several pictures of him and his cortege. Richard- 
son was ordered to stop. The Viceroy was more 
worried, however, by the report of the starter's pis- 
tol and when the first shot was fired all his attend- 
ants gathered closely about him. Even after it had 
been explained to him that the cartridges were blank 
he issued instructions forbidding the use of the 
weapon altogether. The poor old gentleman was 
afraid that some one was going to take a shot at 
him. The following week he sent an order to all 
the schools in his province prohibiting track meets 
in the future. Imagine the Governor of New York 



PROFESSOR IN CHINESE COLLEGE 75 

issuing such an order. He would be hooted out of 
the state. 

Richardson's duties started on a Monday and I 
took my leave, intending to spend a couple of months 
travelling through China and meet my side-partner 
in Manila. I went to Peking where I put up at the 
Y. M. C. A. for one dollar a day. I spent two 
weeks in this very fascinating city doing the rounds 
in a most tourist-like fashion. While sitting one 
afternoon on the great altar of the Temple of 
Heaven, reflecting on the fact that I was a lonely 
tramp wandering aimlessly through a land of strange 
people, I was approached by a slight male figure 
with a missionary caste of countenance. The man 
sat down and began to talk to me. He had one 
of those piping voices which always excite in me the 
desire to fight. This person, with the unfortunate 
and aggravating voice, was a Baptist preacher of 
the hardest shell variety. We spent the rest of the 
day together sight-seeing and at evening we agreed 
to meet the following day. For two weeks the Bap- 
tist and I trudged about the interesting city of Pe- 
king, visiting the Temple of Heaven, the Temple 
of Confucius, the Legation quarters and all the 
places of importance in the Tartar, Imperial and 
Chinese cities. The old fellow proved to be an in- 
teresting character in spite of his voice and my in- 
clination to swing on him changed to a feeling of 
respect and admiration. 

From Peking to Hankow but one fast train runs 
a week. This train makes the trip in a day and a 



76 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

half, running both day and night. The other trains 
travel only in the day-time, stopping on a siding at 
night, and require three days for the journey. I 
was at the station ready to leave in a few minutes 
on the fast train when I heard what I thought was 
my name being shouted about the depot. This star- 
tled me for, outside of the Baptist preacher and a 
few men I met at the Y. M. C. A., I knew no one. 
The name was shouted again and, seeing that a Chi- 
nese boy was the source from which it was emerg- 
ing, I went to the lad to ascertain what it was all 
about. The boy handed me a telegram which read, 
"Chance for teaching till summer can you stay over 
wire reply." This message was from Samuel Sung 
Young, the President of the Tangshan Engineering 
College, whom I had met in Tientsin. The telegram 
didn't mean very much and I had only five minutes 
in which to make up my mind before the train de- 
parted. "Chance for teaching" — teaching what? I 
came to the conclusion that if I could not teach 
Chinese youths Hebrew or anatomy or anything else, 
I was no good. "Till summer" — what did that 
mean? Summer in China might not begin for six 
months. I decided to take a chance on that. The 
most serious difficulty, however, was that there was 
no mention in the telegram about pay. While I 
was reflecting on these matters the train whistle blew 
and it was time to act. I decided to wait over and 
investigate the position. I wired Young, "Teach 
what and how much?" The next day I received a 
reply which read, "Taels two hundred reply." I 




f ~*i*mt.i 




Upper: A Group of our Korean Friends 
Lower: Every Day is Wash-day in Korea 



PROFESSOR IN CHINESE COLLEGE 77 

was as much at sea as ever. How much was two 
hundred taels? I soon learned on inquiring that 
it was the equivalent to one hundred and twenty-five 
dollars gold. But was that amount to be paid 
monthly or for the period lasting "till summer"? 
No mention was made of the subject I was to teach 
and the whole affair was an uncertain proposition. 
I rather liked this uncertain feature, so wired my 
acceptance and took the next train for Tang- 
shan. 

Shortly after night-fall I swung off my car at 
Tangshan and was greeted by President Young and 
Professor Shen Yen Jee, one of the instructors in 
the college. Jee, a Cantonese, was a graduate of 
the University of California in my class and we had 
been good friends. To meet him was a great sur- 
prise. It was nearly like coming home. 

The welcome I received was as enthusiastic and 
cordial as any one ever had and the hospitality ex- 
tended has never been surpassed and seldom equalled 
on this earth. We hopped into rickshaws and were 
off to the college grounds. President Young's man- 
sion was a fine two-story brick building. I was in- 
troduced to Mrs. Young, a charming little Chinese 
woman, who spoke good English which she had 
learned at a Church of England school in Hong- 
kong. I was also introduced to Miss May Wu, 
Mrs. Young's sister and a bright young girl of 
fifteen. Miss Young, the president's sister, and a 
very fine woman, was also present. But probably 
the finest of all were Mrs. Young's two dear little 



78 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

boys — one two years old and the other a three- 
months' old baby. 

The situation was a great novelty to me and such 
enjoyable and interesting things came in such rapid 
succession that it all seemed like a beautiful dream. 
We soon sat down to dinner and the many good but 
odd dishes which were served nearly baffled me. 
The chop-sticks, the sole appliances for conveying the 
food to one's mouth, unless one employed one's 
hands — which would be a greater breach of eti- 
quette in China than in America — were handled by 
me with a certain degree of facility, for I had ac- 
quired considerable dexterity with these implements 
in Japan. Jee and I talked of old acquaintances 
at college and we all had an enjoyable evening be- 
fore retiring. 

The Tangshan Engineering College is the leading 
Imperial Government scientific school in China. Its 
ten or more buildings are of red brick and are thor- 
oughly equipped with the latest classroom fixtures 
and laboratory supplies. There was an undergradu- 
ate enrolment of two hundred and fifty boys and a 
cleaner or finer set of young fellows cannot be found 
anywhere. The faculty number thirty, one half of 
whom were Chinese and the other English or Scotch. 
President Young's house, which was part of the col- 
lege plan, was enclosed in a compound of its own. 
In front were a pretty garden and a first-class ten- 
nis court. The interior was furnished in Chinese 
fashion with a strong American tinge to it, for Young 
had been educated in America. There were a half- 



PROFESSOR IN CHINESE COLLEGE 79 

dozen servants and the household was conducted in 
a manner in keeping with the dignity of the presi- 
dent of a college. My bedroom was a large well- 
ventilated apartment containing a Chinese bed, upon 
which had been thoughtfully placed a pillow and bed- 
clothes common to the West. 

All the members of the household were dressed 
in Chinese costume. This Oriental apparel is very 
picturesque and demands the utmost care and taste 
on the part of those who wear it, both men and 
women, to be in style. The intricacies of Chinese 
dress are more complicated and require more at- 
tention, time and skill to be in accordance with the 
dictates of fashion than do those of the American 
woman with her manifold garments and her ornate 
headgear. 

The meals were purely Chinese and I soon became 
accustomed to rice as the main food-stuff and almost 
forgot that such articles as bread or butter ever 
existed. The most monotonous meal of the day 
was breakfast. This repast consisted of rice and 
meat — a sort of stew, one day, and the next we would 
sit down to bowls containing endless strings of a 
substance somewhat similar to macaroni. This al- 
ternating diet was a poor substitute for the usual 
fresh eggs, coffee and pancakes of the day's initial 
meal in the West. The noon and evening meals fur- 
nished a much larger variety and there was a more 
favourable chance for an American to hook nourish- 
ing food out of the assortment. Such delicacies as 
fish eyes, shark fins, bird's nest soup, lime-cured 



8o JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

eggs, finely chopped and highly-seasoned chicken, 
vegetables and rice — in numerous forms — comprised 
the bulk of the menu. Novel and interesting as all 
this was to me, I was quite ready, after a month's 
stay in Tangshan, for a porterhouse steak, some 
bread and butter and a piece of pie. 

I learned my duties the day after my arrival. I 
was to be substitute professor in English, History 
and Economics, have charge of the college gymna- 
sium and assist in the library, in place of one of the 
regular teachers who was absent on leave for a 
month. No new light was thrown on the subject of 
salary and this matter remained obscure until the 
time came for my departure. The classroom work 
was interesting and Chinese pupils are about the 
same as the general run of such creatures in any 
American city. One of the requirements for ad- 
mission to the college was that each student should 
have a speaking knowledge of English. This knowl- 
edge on their part was not very profound, however, 
and I would talk along at times with such rapidity 
that the poor chaps could not understand a word. 

When off duty I spent many an interesting hour 
talking to Mrs. Young about (to me) the peculiar 
ways of the Chinese — their marriage customs, their 
family life and social ideas. I frequently made vis- 
its to the village of Tangshan where I wandered in 
and out of the quaint markets, ate in Chinese res- 
taurants or attended a religious ceremony at one of 
the many temples. I occasionally dropped into a 
theatre where the custom prevailed of entering with- 




5 
u 

o 

s 



o 



o 






... f f*JFT 



PROFESSOR IN CHINESE COLLEGE 81 

out paying admission, the cost of the show being 
collected after one had been present a few minutes 
making up his mind whether the performance was 
worth seeing or not. 

A Chinese play sometimes lasts for weeks and its 
claim to a continuous performance beats that of the 
American picture show. Some of the audience sit 
on the stage. The orchestra is also on the stage 
and produces the most unearthly collection of dis- 
cordant sounds conceivable. The actors, dressed 
in the most hideous combination of colours, shriek 
and yelp in tones ranging in variety from the mellow 
voice of a female Quaker to the gruesome calls 
of a coyote. Most interesting among the features 
of the theatres were the conveniences furnished by 
the proprietors for their patrons. There was a con- 
tinual shower of wet towels hurled through the air 
over the heads of the people — by a man on the 
stage — to boys stationed in various parts of the 
theatre. One of these moistened rags was passed 
along each row of seats and the perspiring occu- 
pants swabbed off their faces and naked bodies. 
The facility and skill with which these towels were 
thrown and caught and the utter disregard of all 
rules of hygiene on the part of the crowd in the 
common use of the fabric were marvellous. 

Many of the Chinese instructors connected with 
the college had had their queues amputated. Mo 
■ — one of the proctors — however, took pride in his 
greasy pig-tail and refused to part with it. I sug- 
gested to him one time that if he did not cut it ojf 



82 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

I would do so myself. One evening when Mo was 
playing Chinese dominoes at President Young's 
house I determined to tie a tin can to his queue. It 
required some patience and a little time to carry 
this out so as not to give Mo any idea as to what 
was taking place. The rest of the Chinese were in 
on the joke and gave me what assistance they could, 
while continuing to play their game. After an 
hour's work the feat was accomplished and on the 
end of a heavy cord attached to the proctor's queue 
was a rusty old Standard Oil can. The Chinese 
usually play at their games until very late and as I 
wished to go to bed early I had to hasten the climax. 
I did this by having a servant announce a hurry call 
for Mo. The proctor, thinking there was trouble 
in the boys' dormitory, made a dash towards the 
door with the oil can dangling behind him. The 
instant he discovered the can he realized that the 
servant's call was a sham and in a rage turned on 
me whom he at once suspected of the mischief. I 
thought my last day had come and that I was to be 
mauled to pieces by the frantic handling of an en- 
raged Oriental. He plunged towards me like a huge 
tiger. Fortunately for me the rest of the company 
appreciated the joke and came to my rescue. The 
angry man was calmed and a tragedy was prevented. 
It was about this time that I received the follow- 
ing letter from Richardson in Peking: "The job in 
Tientsin has gone up in a balloon. Particulars later. 
Let it suffice to say that my Honolulu discipline got 
the boys on their ear and in the absence of the prin- 



PROFESSOR IN CHINESE COLLEGE 83 

cipal they struck. To avoid complications I beat it. 
No tears." This is the only information that I re- 
ceived concerning Richardson's sudden flight from 
Tientsin until I reached Manila some time later. I 
then forced him into the admission that he was vir- 
tually fired. Chinese students have the disconcerting 
habit, when their teachers do not suit them, of going 
on a strike. It seems that Richardson tried to in- 
augurate a civilized system of discipline which proved 
to be such a sudden and revolutionary change to the 
laxity that had prevailed in the classroom, up to the 
time of his advent, that the students rose up in a body 
and rebelled. They all went on a strike and pro- 
ceeded to the acting principal of the institution and 
issued an ultimatum that either Richardson had to 
leave or they themselves would quit the school. 
Their decision was final and the acting head of the 
school informed Richardson that under the circum- 
stances he would have to go. Richardson said that 
such an arrangement suited him, and that afternoon 
he resumed his journey. 

One of the most delightful Chinese that I met dur- 
ing my stay in Tangshan was Mr. Sze Ping Tze, 
who was a graduate of Cornell University and at 
this time Locomotive Superintendent of the Imperial 
Railways of North China. He was also an high 
official of the Kaiping Coal Mines. Several years 
ago he was private secretary to Yuan Shi-Kai, later 
President of the Chinese Republic. I spent many 
pleasant evenings with Mr. Sze and became well ac- 
quainted with him. On one occasion I said to him, 



84 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

"Give me a job as conductor on one of your trains 
running from Peking to Hankow." 

"Why do you want it?" he asked. 

"When I get to Hankow I will quit and I shall 
then be several hundred miles farther along on my 
trip — at your expense," I replied with a smile. 

Sze thought this was a great joke and, laughing, 
said, "Why, I can do better than that for you; I 
will give you a pass." 

"All right," I said, "I won't forget that and when 
the time comes for me to leave Tangshan I will re- 
mind you of it." 

"What's more," continued Sze, "I will give you 
a letter of introduction to my brother in Hankow. 
He is vice-president of the Chinese Steamship and 
Navigation Company and I am sure he will give you 
a pass on the Yangtsze River from Hankow to 
Shanghai." 

"Fine business; and maybe I will be able to get 
a lift there from some one that will shoot me through 
to Manila," I concluded, feeling that the conversa- 
tion had been a very profitable one. 

When the time came for my departure from 
Tangshan Sze was true to his word. President 
Young gave me a railroad pass from Tangshan to 
Peking, distance of two hundred miles; Sze's pass 
from Peking to Hankow was over nine hundred 
miles and the letter to his brother brought the third 
pass down the Yangtsze River to Shanghai, a dis- 
tance of nine hundred miles more. As a result I ob- 
tained free passage for two thousand miles in China 




The Author in Chinese Gari 



PROFESSOR IN CHINESE COLLEGE 85 

— and all first-class. If all the circumstances were 
reversed, what chance would a young Chinese, work- 
ing his way in America, have of teaching in the 
University of California, living with the president 
of the college, getting a pass from an high official 
of the Southern Pacific from San Francisco to St. 
Louis and thence down the Mississippi to New 
Orleans? 

For my services as substitute professor in the col- 
lege I received one hundred and twenty-five dollars 
(gold) plus my room and board and this, together 
with the railway and steamship passes I obtained, 
made the month I spent in Tangshan a very profit- 
able one. I prized more highly, however, the unique 
experience of living with a high-class Chinese family 
and the insight I had of Chinese home life. But 
above all I value the good and loyal Chinese friends 
I made. 



CHAPTER VII 

ADRIFT IN THE CHINESE EMPIRE 

President Young accompanied me from Tang- 
shan to Peking, to which latter city he made frequent 
trips in connection with his position as member of 
the Imperial Government Boards of Education and 
Transportation. I had planned to take the slow 
train from Peking to Hankow, which runs only in 
the day-time and goes on a siding for the night. 
This train would leave at eight the following mornr 
ing and, as we arrived in Peking in the afternoon, 
I had the evening to spend there. 

All American-educated Chinese are known as "re- 
turned students" and about a dozen of these fellows 
were guests of President Young at dinner at the 
Wagon Lits Hotel to meet me. As they were all 
graduates of American colleges and spoke English 
they employed this language exclusively, when they 
were together, in order to keep in practice and also 
to cement this common bond which existed amongst 
them. Mr. Ponson Chu, one of the number, dis- 
played a Psi Upsilon Fraternity pin on the breast 
of his Oriental costume and this emblem immediately 
attracted my attention, for I was a member of the 
same society. Chu was from the Yale chapter with 
the class of 1909 and he and I became brothers at 
once. 

86 



ADRIFT IN CHINESE EMPIRE 87 

After dinner we rented rickshaws for the eve- 
ning and the Chinese started out to "show me the 
town." This was a rare opportunity; for it gave 
me access to places of which, alone, I should not 
have known the existence. We hopped into our 
rickshaws and were on our way. We passed the 
Legation compounds, went through the massive and 
imposing Chien-Mien Gate and in a few minutes 
were lost in the swarms of roving humanity in the 
Chinese City. We found our way through the nar- 
row streets crowded with vendors, wrangling mer- 
chants, camels and what not. Finally we came to 
our first stop, a bohemian cafe — to describe the 
place in Western parlance. This cafe, which repre- 
sented the best thing of its kind in the capital, was 
a quaint old building composed of several rooms in 
each of which were a few tables. We seated our- 
selves at three of these tables and ordered refresh- 
ments — which consisted of tea and dried watermelon 
seeds. Shortly, a bevy of young Chinese girls, em- 
ployed by the institution, came in and sat with us, 
partook of the food and engaged in the conversa- 
tion so far as their limited mentalities would permit. 
These dainty little creatures, ranging in age from 
twelve to sixteen years, were neatly dressed in tight 
pajama-like garments. Their hair was greased and 
cut in such fantastic designs and they were so men- 
tally deficient and so bashful that it was hard for 
me to realize they were human beings. One of our 
number put in an order for a Chinese orchestra and 
in a few minutes an old fellow appeared with an in- 



88 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

strument somewhat similar to a violin. This mu- 
sical contrivance had but one string. The sounds it 
emitted, after its operator got into action, were 
enough to drive the most placid man insane. To 
complete the musical bedlam a confusion of discor- 
dant tones was added by the voices of several female 
singers who rendered a number of selections at the 
request of one of our party. 

We visited several establishments of this sort and 
in one of them I was treated to the sight of see- 
ing two Manchu Princesses accompanied by their 
eunuchs. These women entered with their male 
attendants, hanging languidly on their arms. The 
women were tall, graceful creatures — each smoking 
a cigarette, and were dressed in beautiful one-piece 
robes of rich blue colour. Their hair was done up 
in the characteristic Manchu fashion on a frame- 
work extending from the rear of the head. They 
were beautiful women. 

The following morning I was at the station ready 
to board the slow train through China to Hankow. 
As there were no dining arrangements on these 
trains I came fully provided with provisions. Ex- 
tending from each coat pocket was a loaf of French 
bread; canned goods disfigured the symmetry of my 
trousers in front and two bottles of beer added to 
my unshapely appearance in the rear. Foreigners 
very seldom take this- slow train and the passenger 
list consists exclusively of natives who are making 
short trips. 

I had just seated myself in my compartment when 



ADRIFT IN CHINESE EMPIRE 89 

an Englishman entered and asked if I would mind 
if a Russian shared quarters with me. I had no ob- 
jections and the Russian came in. The train pulled 
out and as soon as my new travelling companion had 
his luggage adjusted I attempted to engage him in 
conversation. The man could not speak a word of 
English and I knew nothing of Russian. I was in 
for three days of silence, I thought. We resorted 
to gestures and drawing pictures. In this way, I 
learned that my new friend was an artist, and I 
informed him by the same means of my purposes in 
life. 

To confine myself to the truth it must be stated 
that the Russian knew two words of the English 
language and these were, "President Taft." I dis- 
covered this when he took from his little travelling 
trunk two small glasses and a bottle of Benedictine. 
He poured out the liquor, handed a glass to me and, 
drinking a toast, said, "President Taft." I would 
not be outdone so I returned the compliment by 
toasting a name which I thought ought to be the Rus- 
sian for Nicholas. The artist recognized it and his 
face was one radiant smile as he drank his glass. 
These were the only words which passed between 
us during our three days together and they were 
made coherent with the bottle as a welcome inter- 
preter. 

The painter had, among his belongings, a large 
pamphlet with Russian phrases on one page and the 
English equivalent on the other. By means of this 
booklet we were able to exchange ideas. Sometimes, 



9 o JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

however, it would require almost an hour to put 
across a simple thought. 

The first night we stopped at Tchang Te Fou 
and I made arrangements with the station master 
for the Russian and myself to sleep in the car. Most 
of the interior cities of China are surrounded by a 
wall and the railway stations are usually outside of 
this wall and often a couple of miles away. Before 
retiring the Russian and I had agreed, by means of 
the English-Russian pamphlet, to enter the walls 
of Tchang Te Fou and see the town and at the same 
time get something to drink, as the water on the 
train was very poor. We walked the two miles from 
the station to the city, entered the big gate and were 
soon wandering up the main street. We were at 
once a source of curiosity as our advent was, no 
doubt, the chief event of the year. 

This city is seldom, if ever, visited by foreigners 
and we learned afterwards that there were only two 
in residence, these being missionaries. Consequently 
we were the main feature of interest to the simple 
but treacherous-looking inhabitants. As. we pro- 
ceeded up the street in the hope of finding a soda 
fountain or a saloon we accumulated a long train 
of curious citizens, beggars, naked children and non- 
descripts, who followed us and examined us with 
child-like simplicity. We finally came to a shop 
which had the appearance of a drug store. We 
looked over its stock for some thirst-quenching 
liquid. By this time our train of natives had in- 
creased to two hundred and they stood at the en- 



ADRIFT IN CHINESE EMPIRE 91 

trance of the shop while the proprietor restrained 
them from coming in. I spied two bottles of some 
unknown make of American beer perched on a shelf 
amidst Chinese medical concoctions and bought 
them. The Russian and I then made our way- 
through the crowd at the door and started down the 
street to the train. The gang of Chinese tacked on 
and a solid procession of half the population of 
China, so it seemed to us, marched behind us. It 
was beginning to get dark and, as it was no uncom- 
mon thing for foreigners to enter some Chinese 
cities and never be heard of again, I became some- 
what alarmed when several of the hangers-on began 
to beg for money and, when none was forthcoming, 
to pull at our coats and molest us. Two of the Chi- 
nese were especially persistent, one jerking the Rus- 
sian's coat and the other making an effort to get 
his hands in my pockets. What a situation! It 
looked as though two speechless companions in dan- 
ger would have to clean out the whole crowd of 
several hundred Chinese. The Russian gave me a 
look which I interpreted to mean that there was 
nothing to do but fight. The mere suggestion of 
such a thing unconsciously made me act and in a 
flash I swung on one of my assailants. I connected 
with his chin and floored him. Ideas go in and out 
of a man's brain in rapid succession in such moments, 
and I thought that the Russian and I would now 
have to fight the whole mob. I was mistaken. I 
didn't know my men, for the blow that ruined my 
opponent dispersed the entire crowd and they fled 



92 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

in all directions like chaff before the wind. A crisis 
had been passed and the Russian and I made haste 
to the station where we safely spent the night in 
the train. 

The next day we had more trouble. This time it 
was with the railway police. I was showing a num- 
ber of photographs of Chinese to my Russian friend 
when a policeman came along and asked in French 
if he could see them. I acquiesced, thinking the offi- 
cer was simply interested. He wanted to show them 
to some of his friends in another car. I gave my 
consent with a nod of my head. As he had not re- 
turned at the end of an hour, I went through the 
train to find him. He was showing them to a score 
of his countrymen and said that he would bring them 
back in a few minutes. I returned to my car. Shortly 
the policeman appeared and gave me all the pic- 
tures except two. These he said he wanted to keep. 
I protested with him in French, for this was the lan- 
guage used by the employes of this railroad. He 
became so angry that he attempted to take back the 
photographs he had returned. The Russian came to 
my assistance and we threw the policeman out of our 
compartment into the aisle of the car. I took his 
number and told him that I would report him to 
Mr. Tze, the official of the railroad company who 
had given me my pass. The policeman recognized 
Tze's name and at once calmed down and said that 
he would return the missing pictures immediately. 
He did not return and I went after him again only 
to learn that he had got off the train at the last sta- 



ADRIFT IN CHINESE EMPIRE 93 

tion. The man was now beyond reach and I was out 
two of my photographs. Why he wanted them, I 
don't know. It is hard to diagnose the workings 
of some people's brains and this policeman was one 
of them. 

The second night our train went on a siding at 
Tchu Me Tien, a small isolated village. The sta- 
tion master would not grant us permission to sleep 
in the car, so we had to put up at a Chinese inn. 
A Japanese hotel is a model of cleanliness. A Chi- 
nese hotel is usually the reverse. This inn at Tchu 
Me Tien was the essence of filth, discomfort and 
heat. It is a safe statement to make that it was one 
of the most unsanitary, dilapidated and uncomfort- 
able domiciles on this earth. The building was alive 
with naked and unwashed Chinese; our bedroom 
was occupied by a dozen hop-head coolies; the beds 
were made from the hardest wood obtainable; the 
unsanitary toilet was only a few feet away; the ther- 
mometer was hovering about the boiling point; and 
mosquitoes were as numerous as raindrops in Ore- 
gon and as large as bats. With all these inconven- 
iences and pests, coupled with the fear of being 
robbed during the night by the proprietor of the 
hotel assisted by his guests, neither the Russian nor 
myself — who rested on the same plank together — 
got a wink of sleep. 

I left the Russian at Hankow and began rambling 
again by myself. I found an hotel in the Japanese 
concession of the city and there I put up during my 
week's stay in Hankow. I deteriorated into a sim- 



94 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

pie tourist. I "did" Hankow, and I "did" Wu- 
Chang and Han Yang, the cities on the opposite 
banks of the Yangtsze River. Before leaving Han- 
kow I presented my letter of introduction to Mr. 
Tze and obtained my steamship passage down the 
river. I sailed on the steamer Hsin Chang. 

Three days and three nights on the picturesque 
Yangtsze as a first-class passenger, and the Hsin 
Chang pulled into Nanking. Although my pass was 
good to Shanghai I concluded to leave the ship at 
Nanking and go on to the coast by train. I there- 
fore landed, hailed a rickshaw and gave instruc- 
tions to the coolie to haul me to a Japanese hotel. 

American and European hotels were impossible 
for me on account of their high rates and the Chi- 
nese hotels were out of the question because of their 
filth. There are many Japanese in China and each 
large city has at least one of their hotels, which are 
always clean and cheap. 

The Nanking Japanese hotel proved to be a dif- 
ficult institution to find, for, after dragging me about 
two-thirds of the streets of the town, the coolie ad- 
mitted that he didn't know where it was. At last I 
saw the Japanese consul's house and directed my 
rickshaw man to it. From the consul I learned 
where the Japanese hotel was. In five minutes I 
was a properly registered guest of the place. 

I retained the service of the rickshaw coolie and 
with a map set out to see Nanking. I passed through 
the ruins of the old Imperial City where a few Man- 
chus still reside and out of the walls to the Ming 



ADRIFT IN CHINESE EMPIRE 95 

tombs. The rickshaw slowly conveyed me along the 
avenue of hideous monuments erected over the 
graves of the late members of the Ming dynasty. 
When I came to the end I alighted and ascended to 
the summit of the huge structure built over the sup- 
posed remains of Woo Hung, the first emperor of 
the Ming line, who died some six hundred years ago. 
I sat down and gazed over the distant walls to the 
city of Nanking nestled in the mist. There I re- 
mained in deep reflection. My thoughts had floated 
across the Pacific to places where I had friends and 
relatives. Just at this lonesome moment a neatly 
dressed Scotchman came along and sat down beside 
me. 

"What are you doing, old chap?" he inquired. 

"Just knocking about the country," I replied. 

"Are you going to Shanghai?" 

"Yes, I shall probably go down to-morrow after- 
noon." 

"Where do you intend to stay while there?" 

"Oh, I suppose that I shall put up at some hotel." 

"I live in Shanghai and am going there in the 
morning. Can't you come and stay with me?" 

I thanked him but declined, giving as an excuse 
the fact that I had some friends whom I expected to 
meet. The Scotchman persisted. 

"I should be very pleased to entertain you. If 
you are unable to find your friends be sure and look 
me up," he said. 

I am not of a suspicious nature but, when the 
Scotchman extended such an urgent invitation on so 



96 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

short acquaintance, I immediately thought that he 
was a bunko man of some sort and that he intended 
to "shanghai" me. 

"Thanks," I concluded, "if I can't find my friends 
I shall look you up." Shanghai is a city of a mil- 
lion and a half people and, as the Scotchman — who 
didn't give his name — left, I dismissed the incident 
from my mind, never expecting to see him again. 

I returned to my rickshaw and was soon again 
within the city walls where I spent the remainder 
of the afternoon visiting the Gung Yuam or old 
Examination Hall. 

This hall was one of the most interesting institu- 
tions in my Chinese travels. It was the place where 
the students from many provinces came to take the 
government examinations in the Chinese classics. It 
consisted of rows of cells where the students were 
sealed in for several days to write their essays. 
There were twenty-five thousand of these cells, suffi- 
cient to accommodate that many students at one 
time, and the whole institution covered several acres. 
In addition to the cells there were many buildings 
which were used by the government officials and ex- 
aminers. The place was last used in 1904 and since 
that time has rapidly decayed and through neglect, 
characteristic of the Chinese, was in a poor state of 
preservation. It was the only one still remaining in 
China and it is a pity that it is soon to be destroyed. 

My companion on the train to Shanghai was a 
Japanese. With the smattering of English he knew, 
coupled with the fragments of the Japanese language 




6* 









o 

Q 

2 



Q 
O 

o 
< 

Oh 



ADRIFT IN CHINESE EMPIRE 97 

I had picked up in Japan, we carried on a fairly 
intelligent conversation. From him I learned the 
address of a Japanese hotel in Shanghai and he 
kindly offered to accompany me to it. We arrived 
in the big city and in a moment were lost in the tre- 
mendous tides of humanity. I thought I had never 
seen so many people before. The Japanese con- 
ducted me to the hotel. The proprietor consigned 
us to the same room. I didn't object. I was only 
surprised. 

Shanghai was in holiday attire and throngs of 
people were celebrating the coronation of King 
George V of Great Britain. I walked the streets 
and watched the happy crowds. A feeling came 
over me that I was out of it, that my stay in the 
city would be a wearisome one and that while every 
one else would be enjoying the celebration I could 
not take part in it. As I was thus musing, I heard 
a shout from the street. 

"Did you find your friends?" It was the Scotch- 
man whom I had met in Nanking. 

"No," I shouted back, at once making up my mind 
to accept the stranger's invitation. I concluded that 
I had never been drugged or "shanghaied" and I 
was willing to take the chance. If any one made a 
suspicious move I would swing on him first and put 
up a good fight while the affair lasted. 

"Come on with me, then," said the Scotchman. 

"All right," I replied. 

I returned to the Japanese hotel, checked out and 
immediately moved into the Scotchman's apartments. 



98 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

This mysterious man whom I held in such sus- 
picion and to whom I attributed such unworthy mo- 
tives was Mr. John E. Hall, a prominent importer 
of steel rails, and one of the most respected citizens 
of Shanghai. I entered Hall's spacious apartments, 
was introduced to several of his friends and was 
soon seated at the dinner table putting away one of 
the finest meals any mortal ever ate. Everything in 
the line of good food and good liquor graced Hall's 
table, and every convenience and comfort from bath- 
room to billiard table was to be found in his resi- 
dence. 

I was given a guest card to the Shanghai Club, the 
finest in the Far East. I had a ticket to the Corona- 
tion service at the Cathedral. I sat in a reserved 
seat and viewed the parade. I was taken to all the 
points of interest in the city, both by day and by 
night, and if there was anything on the map too good 
for me, I didn't know it. This was a sample of 
hospitality hard to beat. 

During my wanderings about Shanghai with Hall, 
I was taken, in the early hours of the morning, after 
the electrical parade which took place as a part of 
the coronation celebration, to the Carlton Cafe — a 
bohemian resort. As I entered this cafe, in com- 
pany with a dozen of Hall's friends, I was startled 
to hear my name called out from the midst of the 
huge throng of midnight merrymakers. Here I was 
five thousand miles from home, and, so far as I 
was aware, there was not a soul I knew in the city. 
My name rang through the air again. I looked 



ADRIFT IN CHINESE EMPIRE 99 

about and at last recognized a woman, who was 
standing on a table, as the source of the call. I soon 
discovered that she was inebriated and in a second 
I recalled that I had met her on the steamer Asia 
crossing the Pacific. I immediately went over to her, 
shook hands with her and exchanged the usual plati- 
tudes which are employed when people meet. 

My friend wanted to know where I had met the 
lady, and informed me that she was one of the most 
notorious women of the Shanghai underworld. On 
the steamer she had given her name as Mrs. Davis 
and there was nothing in her demeanour during 
the voyage to indicate that she was not a respectable 
woman. It was on this basis that I had met her. 
Presently she came over to our table and asked if 
I would come and have tiffin with her the next day. 
I accepted. 

"Where shall I come?" I inquired. 

"Sixteen Soo Chow Road," she said. "Are you 
surprised?" 

Either way I might have answered this question 
would have given offence, so I evaded it with an as- 
surance that I would be on hand for tiffin the next 
day. 

Sixteen Soo Chow Road was guarded by two po- 
licemen. They took no notice of me and I walked 
straight in and asked for Mrs. Davis. No one in 
the house knew her by that name. In a few minutes 
I found her and was cordially received. The place 
was in a great state of excitement, for one of the 
women had taken four shots at a prominent mer- 



ioo JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

chant of Shanghai early in the morning in one of the 
city's cafes. The woman was under arrest and this 
accounted for the presence of the policemen at the 
entrance. I did not like the idea of being about for 
fear I would be called as a witness and become mixed 
up in a nasty scrape which I knew nothing about. 
However, I decided to be a man and see the meal 
out. Tiffin was brought in and Mrs. Davis, for she 
was still Mrs. Davis to me, entertained me as would 
the hostess of the most respectable home in the 
world. After a good meal and a pleasant call I took 
my leave. I was somewhat wiser from my study 
of human nature. I also had made another friend 
in this world. 

I made arrangements with the skipper of a British 
tramp steamer to take me to Hongkong and before 
long I found myself on the shores of this beautiful 
island ready for new experiences. Hongkong proved 
to be a poor field for adventure and after seeing the 
sights I went up the river to Canton. In both placer 
I put up at Japanese hotels where I thrived on Jap- 
anese diet at Japanese prices. I returned to Hong- 
kong and after a few days along the waterfront I 
sailed for Manila on a British tramp. 

Before the ship got under way a United States 
Quarantine officer made a cursory examination of 
the crew before she would be allowed to leave for 
the Philippines. As he passed me he said, without 
stopping, that I had malaria. This was cheerful 
news, for a Hankow doctor had told me that I had 
a touch of dry pleurisy and a Canton physician had 



ADRIFT IN CHINESE EMPIRE 101 

prescribed a mixture for dysentery. I said to my- 
self when the American Quarantine doctor made his 
lightning-speed diagnosis, "This is a delightful 
thought; I must have all the diseases under the sun." 
I hadn't been feeling very well, which I attributed 
to the long period I had lived on Japanese and Chi- 
nese food and the irregular life I had been leading, 
so I discounted the contradictory statements of all 
my physicians and concluded that with good food 
and regular hours in Manila I would soon be in 
normal shape. 

However, I had no time to think of ailments, for 
the second day out found the ship in the roughest 
sea I had ever experienced. The captain informed 
me that we were on the outskirts of a typhoon and 
that he had changed the course of the ship in order 
to run away from it. Typhoons, which are com- 
mon to the China Sea during the fall of the year. 
r e tremendous whirlwinds which are often several 
Jindred miles in circumference and, when the 
weather prophets know of their existence, all ships 
are not allowed to leave port. Our ship, however, 
got under way before any indications of the typhoon 
were evident. If a boat encounters one of these 
terrific storms its chances for getting out are about 
one in a hundred. 

I was sitting on the deck talking to the ship's doc- 
tor when the boat gave a lurch which threw us both 
headlong against the railing. Before we could find 
something to hold to the ship pitched in the oppo- 
site direction and we were thrown like rag dolls 



102 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

through the open hatchway upon a pile of cargo. 
From this point we gradually found our way to the 
mess-room. This was the first indication that we 
were in the vicinity of a typhoon. The boat was a 
freighter and did not carry regular passengers and, 
besides the crew, the extra travellers consisted of 
a dozen Chinese coolies, a United States cable ship 
officer and myself. 

The sea became rougher and rougher and if this 
was only the rim of a typhoon what on earth would 
the centre of it be? All night the ship pounded, 
swayed and lurched and the wind blew at a terrific 
rate. The skipper remained on the bridge and 
had what little he ate served to him there. In the 
morning the sea, instead of being calmer, as we 
had all hoped, was ten-fold worse and the captain 
announced that we were in the middle of the typhoon, 
and when asked what our chances were he simply 
shook his head. When the experienced skipr ' 
looked worried and considered that our prospea^ 
for reaching shore were small, unless something ex- 
traordinary occurred, I philosophically — as did all 
the others on board — resigned myself to the fact 
that I only had a day or two at most to live. We 
were as helpless as babes. 

The waves ran thirty and forty feet high and 
constantly broke over the ship at the two hatchways. 
Fifteen feet of water dashed and redashed across 
the deck in a mad torrent. Occasionally a wave 
would break over the top of the mess-room, which 
was perched high upon the stern of the boat, and 




<- i 



•**i 






fc ... 

i • " v.- - 



Upper: Country Boys of North China 
Lower: Sample of an Irrigation System 



ADRIFT IN CHINESE EMPIRE 103 

the force of its blow seem to promise that one more 
would cave in the sides of the ship and end it all. 
It was impossible to serve meals and we all munched 
at pieces of bread or chunks of meat— or any food 
we could get our hands on. 

I had never imagined that the ocean could be- 
come so terrific and a ship so helpless. Each time 
I saw the tremendous mountains of water rush to- 
wards the vessel I would think it was all over. The 
ship would cringe, dip and twist and in some mys- 
terious way, half submerged, ride the treacherous 
monster and, having got safely by, would instantly 
be confronted with another equally as treacherous 
and terrible. To survive these waves was a miracle. 

With the heavy sea and the fearful wind the 
ship's engines were powerless and the boat was swept 
about like a cork. To add to our perilous situation 
the engine room was becoming flooded, although 
four pumps were frantically sucking out the water. 
Thus we battled with the sea for three days, not 
knowing when the end would come, but always liv- 
ing in the hope that the extraordinary thing would 
occur which the captain longed for. 

Thank God, it did occur. During the third night 
the wind changed and it began to rain. I never saw 
rain in such quantities before nor do I ever expect 
to see it again. But every drop was a blessing, for 
it did its share to quiet the waves* and it was only a 
few hours before the sea had abated to a point where 
comparative safety was reached and the ship was 
able to make some headway. A more thankful and 



io 4 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

happy crowd could not be found at that moment on 
land or sea than the few men on that ship. The 
first meal after the subsiding of the waves was as 
happy a reunion and joyous occasion as any Christ- 
mas gathering I ever attended. 

The next day the sea had calmed down to almost 
normal and the captain discovered that we had been 
driven five hundred miles out of our course. He 
headed the bow of his ship towards Manila and, on 
the morning of the sixth day, we pulled into port. 
We were all intact, but the faithful ship was a dis- 
mantled wreck. The Manila authorities had given 
us up as lost and our experiences took up a column 
on the front page of each of the daily papers. 



CHAPTER VIII 

RURAL CHINA BY CART 

Richardson was en route to Peking as a third- 
class passenger. He had just been discharged — 
with thanks — from his position of physics teacher 
at the Tientsin Middle School. After his dismissal 
it took him about ten minutes to gather his meagre 
belongings together and get out of town. 

In the Chinese capital he stayed at the native 
Y. M. C. A. which was conducted by Americans and 
where his travelling comrade had put up a few 
weeks before. His bill was one dollar, Chinese 
money, a day. The Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation is found in .nearly every large city in the 
Orient. Many- of its' plants are housed in substan- 
tial and well-equipped buildings and it does a most 
valuable work. The men in charge of these institu- 
tions are a fine lot and are representative of the 
best type of Americans. Without exception, they 
received us with the greatest cordiality possible and 
the recollection of their hospitality will long remain 
with us. The many secretaries we met were often 
invaluable to us for the advice they gave us, their 
suggestions and the courtesies they extended to us, 
and we were always welcomed to their accommoda- 
tions at very reasonable prices. 

105 



106 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

In many ways Peking was the most interesting and 
fascinating city of our travels. It is different from 
any other place in the world. Richardson circled 
this Oriental capital on foot. He walked along the 
top of the twelve miles of huge walls which surround 
it. Peking has a population of over a million peo- 
ple and is divided into four cities, viz : The Tartar 
City, inhabited by the middle classes; the Imperial 
City, within the Tartar City, where reside most of 
the government officials; the Forbidden City, in the 
centre of the Imperial City, in which the Emperors 
lived and where the President of the Republic of 
China now has his residence; and the Chinese City 
where the lower classes live. Surrounding the en- 
tire metropolis is a great wall forty feet high and 
sixty-two feet wide at the base. 

The Imperial City occupies a space of nearly two 
square miles and is enclosed by a wall twenty feet 
high. There are four spacious entrances, each with 
three gateways, the middle one being opened only 
for the Emperor or President. The Forbidden City 
is laid out on a grand scale and is surrounded by 
massive pink-tinted walls thirty feet high and thirty 
feet thick. Within are many palaces, private resi- 
dences, apartments for visitors and government offi- 
cials and the necessary quarters for an enormous 
retinue of domestics of various rank. Foreigners 
without permits or the Chinese, except high officials, 
are not allowed in this city. 

Connecting the Tartar and Chinese cities is the 
immense and imposing Chien-Mien Gate with its 



RURAL CHINA BY CART 107 

four Oriental towers. The view from the top of this 
gate is one of the most wonderful metropolitan pic- 
tures in the world. Directly before one's eyes are the 
yellow-tiled palaces of the Forbidden City, whose 
roofs look like sheets of glittering gold under the 
rays of the Oriental sun. To the right are the costly 
and substantial houses of the Legation Quarter. 
Far to the left the Bell and Drum Towers loom up 
like Western skyscrapers. In a remote corner of 
the Chinese City the stately Temple of Heaven with 
its rich blue roof rests in the haze of the Oriental at- 
mosphere. Beneath one is a bee-hive of human 
beings. Tens of thousands pass through the Chien- 
Mien Gate each day. Nearly every means of con- 
veyance that one can imagine, except roller skates 
and submarines, can be seen creeping through the 
arched openings of the huge gate. Camels, donkeys, 
rickshaws, the elaborate equipages of officials, carts, 
men, women and children on foot, form an endless 
stream from the time the gates are opened at six 
in the morning until they close at midnight. A touch 
of the West is added by the roar of trains whose 
tracks pierce the walls of the Chinese capital with 
their numerous tunnels. 

Travelling at the third-class mountain rate of two- 
thirds of a cent a mile, Richardson was sharing his 
small compartment on a Chinese train with a dozen 
coolies — on his way to Tai Yuan Fu. From Peking 
he had made a trip to the Ming tombs and had 
also visited the Great Wall with a party of Ameri- 
can tourists. He was now on his way into the in- 



io8 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

terior of Shansi Province to visit some college friends 
who were missionaries at a small town called Fen 
Chow Fu. The mission station was conducted by 
the American Board of the Congregational Church. 
Richardson went from Peking to Tchang Te Fou, a 
distance of one hundred and seventy miles, by train. 
This city was where the Russian artist and I had our 
trouble with the Chinese beggars. From this place 
Richardson took a branch line to Tai Yuan Fu, about 
two hundred miles west, where he spent the night as 
the guest of a young Britisher who was a Cambridge 
University graduate and was then doing medical 
missionary work. Tai Yuan Fu was the terminal 
of the railroad and Richardson had to complete his 
journey to the mission station by cart. This Chinese 
vehicle had been sent to meet him by his missionary 
friends. 

In giving me an account of this eighty-mile Chi- 
nese cart trip, which required three days, Richard- 
son told me that in order to appreciate his experi- 
ences I must keep in mind four facts. These were : 
first, a Chinese cart has neither springs nor cushions; 
second, Chinese country roads are simply two deep 
parallel ruts or grooves, made by the wheels of carts 
(these roads are never graded and in places the ruts 
are two or three feet deep) ;,third, the portion of the 
road between the ruts was lined with rocks and 
boulders of every description and size; and fourth, 
it rained steadily the three days of his journey. He 
stated that, by putting these facts together and add- 



RURAL CHINA BY CART 109 

ing a liberal allowance of imagination, I could get 
some idea of a cart trip in China. 

This uncomfortable vehicle was drawn by two 
mules, hitched tandem, and not once during the 
eighty miles did they get off a walk. An Arkansas 
train was a comet in comparison. Richardson's at- 
tendants were a driver and a servant, whom the 
mission station had sent. They could not speak Eng- 
lish. For three days my friend was slowly hauled 
over hills and valleys in this primitive conveyance. 
At times he thought his insides would be shaken to 
a hopeless mass; his head was snapped about until 
there was grave doubt in his mind as to whether it 
would stay on throughout the journey and he was 
so roughly tossed about that he thought he would be 
lame for the rest of his life. He would ride a couple 
of hours, about as long as he could stand it at one 
time, and then get out and walk in the rain for an 
equal period. 

At night and at noon-time he stopped at Chinese 
inns. "Inn" is a misnomer, however. The Chinese 
country inn is a stable-yard filled with mules, don- 
keys, dogs, pigs, chickens, babies and smells. This 
yard is surrounded by a long one-story building in 
which are the sleeping rooms, kitchens and eating 
compartments. All the rooms in an inn open on the 
yard and with their doorless entrances extend a 
hearty welcome to the numerous odours. Chinese 
hotels can be located by their characteristic aroma. 

A bedroom in one of these inns has no conven- 
iences. There is a "thing" to sit on and a "thing" 



no JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

upon which to place food, but it requires a great 
deal of intuition to know that they are respectively 
a chair and a table. There is a brick platform in one 
corner of the room for a bed. This is called a kong 
in Shansi Province. Beneath these kongs a fire is 
built on cold nights. It was at Tai Yuam Hsien, 
where he spent the second night, that Richardson, 
while sleeping soundly on a kong, was awakened 
about two A. M. by being nearly baked. The coolie 
who was acting as stoker had replenished the oven 
so generously with fuel that the bed resembled a 
crematory. 

For two and a half days he didn't see a foreigner 
or meet a Chinese who could speak English. He 
communicated with his servant by means of signs. 
As he entered each village he at once became the 
chief object of interest. At the inns the scene on 
his arrival resembled a circus procession. All the 
youngsters, beggars and cripples followed him into 
the yard and watched the "animal" eat. At Tai 
Yuam Hsien they became so numerous and so per- 
sistent in their pleas for cash that Richardson had 
to flash his pistol to instil some fear into them and 
impress them with the fact that he was a danger- 
ous man. 

This three days' journey was filled with inconven- 
iences, but gave Richardson an excellent opportunity 
to get a glimpse of Chinese rural life. The coun- 
try through which he passed was green and the farms 
along the way gave a Mississippi Valley aspect to 
the scenery. The methods of farming were some- 



RURAL CHINA BY CART in 

what different, however. To see hundreds of acres 
of wheat planted in rows like radishes and hoed by- 
hand was hardly American. There were no cows 
or horses but, instead, thousands of goats and sheep 
flocked the hills and valleys while mules and camels 
were the beasts of burden. The country was largely 
agricultural and there were but few walled cities, 
his course taking him through scores of little villages. 

In each of the first two days the Chinese cart made 
thirty miles and the third day twenty. Richardson 
drove into Fen Chow Fu about six o'clock on the 
third evening and received a very cordial welcome 
from the members of the American mission station. 
Fen Chow Fu proved to be a walled town of about 
fifty thousand people and the score or more mission- 
aries were the only foreigners. They entertained 
Richardson in real American fashion. The members 
of this little far away colony were mostly graduates 
of Carlton College, Minnesota, where Richardson 
had taken his freshman and sophomore years before 
going to Dartmouth. 

After ten days as a guest of his friend, Richard- 
son returned to the railroad at Tai Yuan Fu by 
Chinese cart. Three more uncomfortable days over 
the eighty-mile course with the same experiences as 
the inward trip and he arrived at the railroad with- 
out mishap. He took the first train and the fol- 
lowing day was in Hankow. In this city he spent a 
comfortable week at the native Y. M. C. A. 

It was at this time that one of the dreadful Chi- 
nese famines was ravaging the country a few miles 



ii2 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

distant from Hankow and thousands of people were 
dying of starvation. Large numbers of these home- 
less, naked and wretched creatures flocked to the city 
and roamed its narrow streets as beggars. They 
hardly had the strength to walk and they presented 
a sad sight with their fleshless bones, visible ribs and 
sunken faces. Real poverty was more in evidence 
in this section than in any part of the world we vis- 
ited. Human beings were huddled in tiny huts, built 
of rusty Standard Oil cans and located in a swamp. 
A whole family of six or eight would crawl in on 
their hands and knees to get a night's shelter from 
the cold and rain. During the day they would beg 
or attempt to sell some worthless trinkets or pieces 
of junk. I have seen a stock of goods spread out 
on the sidewalk which contained nothing but what 
would be consigned to the ash barrel in an Ameri- 
can community. Rusty nails, pieces of glass, old 
newspapers, rags and wornout soles of shoes were on 
display. In some unaccountable way the vendor fre- 
quently found a purchaser. 

It was in this poverty-stricken district that Rich- 
ardson played the role of philanthropist. He bought 
an American dollar's worth of cash — small Chinese 
coins with a square hole in the centre which are sold 
on long strings. As soon as he began giving these 
away a hundred or more of these poor unfortunates 
gathered about him and piteously begged for some 
of the money. Starved creatures — ragged women, 
half-clad and shivering children, blind boys, men on 
all fours, paralytics and lepers — thronged about 



RURAL CHINA BY CART 113 

him and pleaded for some of his charity. He divided 
the money equally among the multitude, counting 
out the coins as he gave them away. He found that 
for his American dollar he had received twenty-seven 
hundred pieces of cash. 

Richardson was the guest of some friends who 
were on the faculty of Boone's College in Wu Chang 
on the opposite bank of the Yangtsze River from 
Hankow. This school is under the auspices of the 
American Episcopal Church Mission and is one of 
the leading institutions of learning in the Empire. 
Here he spent several days in luxury, sleeping in a 
warm and comfortable room and enjoying American 
meals. 

Riding below the water line on an Oriental steamer 
with Chinese coolies as fellow passengers is the 
antithesis of the comfort of an American Mission 
school. This was the sort of transportation Rich- 
ardson enjoyed down the Yangtsze to Shanghai. 
Three days in the midst of unsanitary surroundings 
and curious and simple coolies were enough to make 
the ordinary American quit the trip and buy a first- 
class ticket home. Richardson was not that kind. 
He was anything but a quitter and although he en- 
joyed a good bed, clean food and intelligent com- 
panions as well as any one I ever knew, he could 
stand hardships and discomfort without a murmur. 
He often appeared to like them. In the face of 
the most discouraging environment he would simply 
smile and play the part of a pilosopher. 

He trooped down the gangway at Shanghai with 



ii 4 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

his fellow passengers and in a few days trooped up 
another gangway on his way south. This time, how- 
ever, he had obtained a rather luxurious berth. For 
ten dollars he was to be landed in the city of Vic- 
toria, on the island of Hongkong, by the Scotch 
captain of a British tramp steamer. He occupied a 
cabin on the upper deck, had the freedom of the 
ship and dined with the skipper in the main saloon. 
The voyage was a quiet one and he had plenty of 
time for reading undisturbed. 

Richardson had tried Chinese steerage travel and 
found it very rough. He decided to make a change. 
From Hongkong he sailed in the hold of a Japanese 
steamer for Manila. According to his own state- 
ment it was the lowest stratum he had ever reached. 
The Japanese in the third-class quarters were an un- 
intelligent and inferior lot. They acted like animals; 
the food was coarse and half cooked; the bunks 
were hard and full of vermin; the quarters were 
poorly ventilated; toilet conveniences did not exist; 
the sea was rough and nearly all the passengers 
were sick. Aside from this, the boat was very com- 
fortable and it was a pleasant trip. 



CHAPTER IX 

ASSORTED JOBS IN THE PHILIPPINES 

The Philippines proved to be a prolific field for 
jobs. It was our plan to settle in the Islands for 
several months and add to our exchequers before 
going on to India and Europe. Richardson held 
down three jobs during our three months' stay and 
for a few days drew pay from them all at the same 
time. I filled one position and declined two others. 
The American who couldn't get work in Manila 
at the time of our visit deserved to starve to death. 

Many of the old Spanish laws are still in force 
and, before I could transact any business, I had to 
comply with the insular regulations and get a cedular 
or license. This certificate costs two pesos and must 
be held before carrying on any financial negotiations. 

I was now ready to look for a job. The first day 
I had a chance to sign on as a government teamster 
caring for and driving a pair of mules at sixty dol- 
lars a month. I did not accept this position, but 
held it in reserve in case I couldn't land anything 
better. The second day, the city editor of the 
Cable-News American said that he had an opening 
as a reporter at eighty dollars a month. At last I 
got in touch with the Bureau of Education which 
I learned wanted a man in its industrial department. 

"5 



n6 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

Four others had been under consideration for several 
days for the position when I arrived on the scene. 
I interviewed the director, Mr. Frank E. White, a 
charming man who has since died and, as I made 
a favourable impression, he asked me to call again. 

My application was considered for a week and I 
conversed with several of the authorities of the 
Bureau. I didn't like the long time employed in 
coming to a conclusion on my case, for I expected 
to remain in Manila only a few months — a fact 
which I had to keep a secret to have any one hire 
me. 

One afternoon during these negotiations I was on 
the Luneta attending the daily concert of the Philip- 
pine Constabulary Band, when I was startled by a 
war-whoop. I looked up to see a sturdy figure 
dressed in the white of the tropics bounding towards 
me. It was Richardson who had just arrived in 
Manila from China. It was the first we had seen 
or heard of one another for three months. That 
evening we spent several hours relating our experi- 
ences since we separated. 

The next interview with the Bureau of Educa- 
tion was the final one. My qualifications evidently 
satisfied the authorities for Mr. White opened the 
conversation by saying: 

"Well, we have decided to take you on, Mr. 
Fletcher — on one condition." 

"What's that?" I inquired. 

"That you will remain permanently," responded 
Mr. White. 



ASSORTED JOBS IN PHILIPPINES 117 

After all the days of negotiation the job now hung 
in the balance, for I intended to stay only three 
months at most and I wanted to be free to leave 
at any time. I couldn't afford to let this informa- 
tion loose or all would be lost. 

"I can't agree to anything like that, Mr. White. 
I assume that you reserve the right to discharge me 
if my services are not satisfactory and I want the 
same privilege to quit if I find that I don't like 
the work or can't get along with you or your as- 
sistants," I said. 

"Of course we take such matters into considera- 
tion," replied Mr. White. "You may go to work 
at once if you wish." 

"There is one little matter which has not been 
mentioned yet," I added. 

"What is that?" inquired the director. 

"Compensation," I smiled. 

"Two hundred pesos a month," said Mr. White 
with a laugh. This amount is equivalent to one 
hundred dollars. 

"That is satisfactory," I concluded and was con- 
ducted into the department where I was to work. 
Now that I had the job I at once began to figure 
out how to get rid of it when the time came. A 
few minutes before I had been wondering how I 
was going to get it. 

The Bureau of Education is one of the main di- 
visions of the Insular Government and employs 
nearly two thousand men and women, the large ma- 
jority of whom are scattered throughout the Islands 



n8 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

as teachers. The head office in Manila has about 
one hundred and twenty on its staff, and these are 
divided among several departments. The Division 
of Publications and Industrial Information was the 
title of the department in which I was to work and 
my duties consisted of issuing bulletins, editing text- 
books, publishing the Philippine Craftsman (a 
monthly magazine of the Bureau) and preparing 
the annual report. This last embodied about fifty 
financial and statistical tables and twenty or more 
graphic charts showing the work accomplished by 
the Bureau during the year. This annual report 
turned out to be the main part of my duties and I 
was assisted by eight Filipinos who compiled most 
of the tables under my supervision. As the Gov- 
ernor-General of the Islands put in a rush order 
for this report my assistants and I were compelled 
to work until eleven o'clock each evening for about 
a month. 

Immediately on his arrival in Manila Richardson 
started to look for a job. The first day, he met 
a friend from the Hawaiian Islands who was in the 
Philippines representing the Honolulu Planters' As- 
sociation in obtaining Filipino labourers for the 
sugar plantations in Hawaii. This man said he 
would have a position open in a few weeks. Rich- 
ardson informed him that he could not wait and 
would have to get something at once. The Ha- 
waiian planter then agreed to take an option on 
his time at thirty dollars a week until a vacancy 



ASSORTED JOBS IN PHILIPPINES 119 

occurred. Richardson accepted this and remained 
in Manila to await developments. 

The duties of the job for which Richardson was 
slated consisted of visiting several of the islands 
in a small steamer, manned by a Spanish captain 
and crew, and gathering labourers who would be 
taken to Manila and thence shipped to Honolulu. 
He was to have a motion picture apparatus, with 
an operator and lecturer who would accompany him 
in his visits to the small villages and towns and 
after showing the natives the wonders and advan- 
tages of life in Hawaii sign them on and ship them 
out. 

During his wait in Manila Richardson was af- 
flicted with the common tropical malady of dengue 
and was confined to his bed for ten days. Dengue 
is a sort of tropical grippe which is conveyed by 
mosquitoes and attacks its victims by means of a 
fever, rash and sore bones in every part of the 
body. Probably its most aggravating features are 
its after-effects, for a severe case often leaves the 
patient in such shape that it requires several months 
to recover normal health. Fortunately Richardson, 
due to his rugged constitution and to the fact that 
his attack was comparatively light, was soon con- 
valescent and recovered without the usual lingering 
after-effects. 

Richardson soon received word from his Hono- 
lulu planter friend that he was to report in Cebu, 
a town on the island of the same name about five 
hundred miles south of Manila. He took an inter- 



120 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

island steamer and in a few days reached his desti- 
nation and was ready for duty. He expected to go 
to work at once. But the man in charge at Cebu 
informed him that he was not needed and instructed 
him to return to Manila. There was a hitch some 
place. After some difficulty about expense money, 
which the Cebu man refused to pay and which was 
adjusted satisfactorily to Richardson by wiring to 
the Honolulu representative in Manila, he returned 
north, arriving on a Wednesday morning. He was 
paid off until the end of the week, which made a 
total period of one month at thirty dollars a week 
with no work and an interesting trip with all ex- 
penses to Cebu and back. 

He began, Wednesday afternoon, to look for an- 
other job and by evening he had obtained a position 
as shipping clerk for a wholesale grocery house at 
one hundred dollars a month. He went to work 
the next morning — Thursday. That evening, after 
dinner, he received a letter from the Bureau of 
Public Works, to which he had made application 
the afternoon before, which stated that he was 
wanted to go to the island of Mindanao, a thou- 
sand miles south of Manila, and take charge of 
the construction of several concrete bridges at a 
salary of one hundred and twenty dollars a month 
and expenses. This offer was especially tempting, 
not only for the increase in salary but for the oppor- 
tunity it offered- him to see more of the Islands — 
the motive for which he was travelling. The posi- 
tion called — so the man at the Bureau of Public 



ASSORTED JOBS IN PHILIPPINES 121 

Works stated — for a knowledge of structural en- 
gineering, cement work and drafting. Richardson 
was not an engineer and knew nothing about such 
subjects. 

"What do you think of my accepting this job?" 
asked Richardson of his travelling companion when 
he had finished reading his letter aloud. 

'Take it," I said. 

"But I don't know anything about structural en- 
gineering," he objected. 

"What difference does that make? All jobs 
sound harder than they really are. Suppose you 
accept it and they find in a couple of weeks that 
you are no good and fire you, what do you care? 
You will be a thousand miles farther along on the 
trip at their expense," I said rather emphatically. 

"All right," concluded Richardson. "To-morrow 
I will notify the grocery people that I intend to quit 
in the evening and I will sail for Mindanao on Sat- 
urday." 

Richardson severed his connections with the 
wholesale grocery house the following night and be- 
gan making preparations for his departure south. 
It will be remembered that the salary from his first 
position continued until the end of the week. He 
received pay from the grocery store for Thursday 
and Friday and his wages from the Bureau of Pub- 
lic Works began on Friday morning. He there- 
fore drew pay from all three jobs on Friday. 

Richardson didn't know a transit from a trom- 
bone and he knew no more about cement than a 



122 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

hair-dresser but, provided with a technical hand- 
book, he sailed, certain that he would be a competent 
engineer by the time he arrived at Zamboango on 
the island of Mindanao — in about a week. I saw 
him off and interestedly awaited word from him as 
to how matters would turn out. 

I had rented a large room in the Imperial Hotel, 
one of the quaint old adobe Spanish buildings with 
iron-barred windows and folding doors, in the In- 
tramuros or walled city. I had been living in this 
room for a few weeks when the proprietor, evi- 
dently thinking that it was too large for one person 
to occupy, placed another man in it without con- 
sulting me. As the new arrival appeared a good 
fellow, and also because I received a reduction in 
my rental, I made no objection. My new room- 
mate was a man about thirty years of age by the 
name of Edwards. He had been a second-class yeo- 
man in the United States Navy and, after serving 
several years, had bought his way out. According 
to his own statement he had enjoyed the reputation 
of having been the biggest drunkard in the Asiatic 
Squadron and in this contention he was upheld by 
members of the navy who knew him. He now, 
however, had been on the water wagon for six 
months and intended to remain there. 

It was only a few days after the advent of Ed- 
wards that the proprietor, evidently still consider- 
ing that the room was too large to be wasted on 
two persons, intruded a third. This man's name 
was Lakebank, and since (as in the first case) he 



ASSORTED JOBS IN PHILIPPINES 123 

appeared to be a decent sort of chap and the pro- 
prietor again reduced the rental, we concluded to 
allow him to remain. We all, however, agreed that 
he was to be the last. Lakebank was a rough, 
uncouth fellow with one of the finest dispositions in 
the universe and a heart as big as the ocean. He 
was chauffeur for one of the high officials of the 
Insular Government. The three of us got along 
very well together. 

One evening as Edwards and I were eating the 
eternal chicken dinner of Manila, Lakebank arrived 
with a most disturbed look on his face. His eyes 
were nearly popping out of his head. I at once 
saw that something was wrong and inquired what 
the trouble was but received only a wink in reply. 
I took the hint and put the matter off until after 
dinner. Lakebank, who was very nervous and ex- 
cited, then informed me that he had seen a man 
on the street, that afternoon, whom he recognized 
as his sister's husband and who, nine years ago in 
the United States, had left her on the night of the 
birth of their little girl. Later it was discovered that 
he had gambled away all her savings. He had 
never been seen or heard from, and was supposed 
to be dead, until Lakebank came face to face with 
him on a calle of Manila. Lakebank learned that 
his brother-in-law was going under the assumed name 
of Polly. 

We discussed the matter for some time and I of- 
fered a number of suggestions as to how to handle 
the situation. The next day, Lakebank, acting on 



i2 4 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

our conclusions, went to the office of Mr. Polly, who 
had a good position with the Insular Government, 
and stated that he wishedlo speak to him alone. 

"Go right ahead. Everything my stenographer 
hears is confidential," said Mr. Polly. 

"No, I want her out of the room," insisted Lake- 
bank, "for I have something of a very serious na- 
ture to say to you." 

"Don't mind her," repeated the man, "I assure 
you that everything you say will be kept a secret." 

"All right then," and looking him squarely in 
the face Lakebank said, "I am James Lakebank, 
your brother-in-law. Your name is Ham, not 
Polly." 

"Yes, yes, you are right; no one should be pres- 
ent," muttered Ham nervously and, as he staggered 
towards the door, he added, "Come with me." The 
two men left the office and wandered out on the 
street, both in silence, until they came to a secluded 
spot in an adjacent lumber yard where, sheltered 
from view, they sat speechless. 

"What are you going to do about it?" Lakebank 
finally asked. Ham then opened his heart and in 
tears stated that he had never spent such remorse- 
ful years in his life as those which had elapsed since 
the night he left his wife. He explained that he 
went directly to Chicago, enlisted in the army and 
was detailed to Manila, where he had been ever 
since. He said that if his wife were willing he 
would join her again and, to show his good faith, 
would give Lakebank five hundred dollars to send 



ASSORTED JOBS IN PHILIPPINES 125 

her so that she could come to San Francisco and 
meet him there. If she did not want to see him, 
she could keep the money for whatever purpose 
she wished. He inquired affectionately about the 
little girl who was born the night he deserted and 
whom he had never seen. He stated that he had 
saved several thousand dollars and that, if it was 
his wife's wish, he would return to America, resume 
his right name, join her and begin life all over again. 

Lakebank did not know whether his sister would 
forgive Ham, or not, but informed him that he 
would write her of their meeting. The case inter- 
ested me and I was eager to know the outcome. 
It would take several months for letters to be ex- 
changed between Lakebank and his sister and the 
matter would not be settled until nearly a year after 
my departure from the Islands. Many months after- 
wards I heard from Lakebank. Ham returned to 
America, met his wife and little girl in San Francisco, 
were reunited and were happily situated in the States. 

One evening I was much surprised to see Rich- 
ardson come bounding into my room. 

"Where did you drop from?" I inquired, as- 
tonished. 

"Just blew in from Zamboango," said Richard- 
son. "I have had enough of these islands. Are 
you ready to beat it to-morrow?" 

"Any old time suits me. To-morrow if you say 
so. 

"All right, to-morrow we go." 

Richardson then related his Mindanao experi- 



126 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

ences. On his way south on the steamer he did all 
he could to prime himself full of engineering knowl- 
edge. He discovered among the passengers an 
engineer whom he put through a severe cross-exami- 
nation. After seven days he arrived in Zamboango 
and, reporting to headquarters, was instructed to go 
to the Insular Penitentiary about twenty miles down 
the coast. At the prison his duties were outlined 
to him. What a drop from structural engineering 
they were ! His "bridge building" consisted of act- 
ing as foreman in charge of one hundred and twenty 
convicts who were hauling wheelbarrow loads of 
sand and filling in a gulch near the prison buildings. 

The penitentiary was situated on the shore of the 
island of Mindanao and was one of the Insular Gov- 
ernment prisons. The institution consisted of sev- 
eral one-story, cement-walled and thatch-roofed 
houses which, in addition to containing the cells for 
the convicts, had rooms and accommodations for 
the guards and officers. The prisoners were largely 
recruited from the Moro tribe, nominal Moham- 
medans, with whom the United States has had much 
trouble. There were also a few Filipinos and a 
number of Chinese. 

Richardson was comfortably situated in one of 
the cottages which were provided for the officials 
of the prison. The entire group of buildings was 
within a few hundred feet of the ocean and was 
buried in a luxuriant jungle of palms and evergreen 
trees of the tropics. 

Each morning at six o'clock the convicts, attired 




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ASSORTED JOBS IN PHILIPPINES 127 

in their striped uniforms, were conducted by a num- 
ber of armed guards to a ravine across which the 
prison authorities had planned to build a bridge. 
The preliminary work of filling and grading was 
being done and it was to oversee this work that 
Richardson was assigned. All day long, under the 
tropical sun, he supervised the hauling, filling and 
levelling. It was a position a ten-year-old boy could 
have held. As the work progressed he, no doubt, 
would have had to use his knowledge of bridge con- 
struction. Fortunately, for those of posterity who 
are destined to use this bridge, he did not remain 
to complete the work. 

Ten days on the job and he was notified that he 
was to be transferred to another part of the Islands. 
He was instructed to report to Manila for orders. 
His removal was due to the fact that the Manila 
office had sent six men to Mindanao when only four 
were needed and as he was the last to arrive he 
was naturally the first to go. He took a boat and 
reached Manila after an absence of one month dur- 
ing which he received one hundred and twenty dol- 
lars and expenses and two thousand miles travel, 
visiting many of the island ports en route. 

As the Bureau of Education authorities had as- 
sumed that unless something extraordinary happened 
I was a fixture in my position, I expected to be 
thrown out when I notified them of my intention to 
leave. It also would look as though I were afraid 
that I could not pass the civil service examination 
which was scheduled for the next day and which 



128 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

I had to take to become a regular employe — for 
I was only a temporary man up to this time. The 
shortness of the notice might also cause trouble for, 
as we were to leave the Islands that day, I could 
give only a few hours' notice. On second thought 
I concluded that the Bureau could not justly object 
for I had come at a time when it was badly in need 
of a man to issue the annual report and I had finished 
this volume, having put in much overtime on it with- 
out extra remuneration. 

However, everything passed off smoothly and, 
instead of being forced to stay or being kicked out, 
I was treated with the greatest kindness and con- 
sideration by every one from Director White down. 
I never before left a position with so much good 
will on the part of my employers. Mr. White ex- 
pressed his regret and stated that he had planned 
to soon promote me and give me an increase in sal- 
ary. He added that if at any time he could be of 
service to me I should not hesitate to call on him. 

That evening Richardson and I sailed in the hold 
of a ship for Hongkong. After travelling through 
Japan, Korea, China and the Philippine Islands we 
left Manila with more coin than we had when we de- 
parted from Honolulu eight months before. We 
each were now worth about eight hundred dollars. 



CHAPTER X 

A PORT-HOLE VIEW OF SOUTHERN ASIA 

With our eight hundred dollars each we felt 
somewhat flush. We realized, however, that it 
would probably be a long time before we could ob- 
tain positions that would pay us as well as those 
we had left in Hawaii, China and the Philippines, 
and we foresaw that we might have difficulty about 
getting work in Europe that would even pay our 
expenses. For these reasons, although now com- 
paratively opulent, we decided to continue the steer- 
age route. 

We sailed from Hongkong in the forward part of 
the French Mail liner Caledonien for Saigon, Indo- 
China. Our only companions in the steerage on 
this three-day trip were thirty Japanese women of 
the underworld going to settle in he Petit Paris, 
as Saigon is frequently called. The meals on this 
steamer were not bad in quality for steerage fare 
but were not numerous enough. The first meal of 
each day took place at nine o'clock in the morning 
and the second and last was served at eight in the 
evening. Each eater was allotted a piece of bread 
— the sturdy production of some French cook — a 
bottle of wine, meat and potatoes, and in the evening 

129 



130 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

a pudding of some sort. We spent the long hours 
between meals reading or conversing to the best of 
our ability with the Japanese prostitutes. 

The Caledonien began winding her way up the 
Mekong River to Saigon, about fifty miles inland. 
French Indo-China is a beautiful spot and Saigon 
with its fifty thousand inhabitants, many of whom 
are French, is indeed a miniature Paris. It is a gay 
little town with many substantial buildings, numer- 
ous cafes and ornate theatres. Scores of quaint 
tables, at many of the restaurants, are placed on the 
sidewalks and sometimes out into the street, com- 
pletely closing it for traffic. At these tables hun- 
dreds of pleasure-loving French people sit during 
the afternoons and evenings, tranquilly sipping their 
wine. They chat and laugh as though they didn't 
have a care in the world. The natives of Cochin- 
China are Annamese, a similar people to the Chinese. 
Both the men and the women dress their hair in a 
knot on the top of their heads, and as they both 
wear trousers it is difficult for the new arrival to 
distinguish the sexes. 

The steerage quarters of the Caledonien were 
crowded to their capacity by the large number of 
Frenchmen and women who came aboard at Saigon. 
In order to make room for his countrymen, the 
steward moved Richardson and me from our state- 
room, in the forward part of the ship, to a cabin 
between the engines and the kitchen. We did not 
realize what sort of a place it was until it came time 
to retire. It was hotter than Hades and there was 



A VIEW OF SOUTHERN ASIA 131 

no more chance for a breath of fresh air to get 
into this dingy compartment than for light to pene- 
trate a photographer's dark room. One glance was 
enough. We made our beds on the bow of the ship. 
We were rudely and suddenly awakened by the 
French steward, who was as mad as a man could be 
when he saw his clean bed-clothes on the dirty deck, 
covering two crusty Americans. He grabbed the 
sheets and blankets, uncovered us with one jerk and 
left us clad in only our night clothes to scramble 
nearly the length of the ship, through the steerage 
crowds, to our stateroom. 

This French steward was a most irritable being 
and was continually worried at the actions of Rich- 
ardson and myself. He would fly off into a fearful 
tirade of French when he found us taking a bath 
in the first-class passengers' tub, or when he saw 
us steal food from the breakfast table to sustain 
us until the evening meal, or when he discovered us 
asleep in a different part of the deck each night 
with the clean bed-spreads. He became so cranky 
that he even called us down when we spotted the 
coarse cloth on the table in the mess-room. He be- 
came so needlessly exasperated at whatever we did 
that Richardson and I devised means by which we 
could provoke the old fellow. 

The Caledonien spent a day at Singapore. This 
was the hottest day I ever experienced and the sun's 
rays seemed to have more penetrating powers than 
usual. I thought I should liquefy from the way in 
which I perspired and only for my thick pith hat, 



132 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

which protected my head and neck from the 
sun, I surely should have been a victim of sun- 
stroke. 

Richardson and I had planned a trip to Java but 
gave up the idea and went directly to Ceylon. The 
Caledonien dropped anchor in the harbour of Co- 
lombo and we were taken ashore in a small boat 
propelled by one oar at the stern. We obtained 
rooms at the Y. M. C. A. at sixteen cents a day. 
This rate did not include bed-clothes, which all travel- 
lers in Ceylon and India have to furnish themselves. 
We each bought a blanket which we carried strapped 
to the outside of our suitcases. 

If it were not for the intense heat, I would agree 
with Mark Twain that Ceylon is the most beautiful 
island in the world. Eliminating its temperature, 
it is Paradise on earth. With it, it is Hell. Co- 
lombo is built about several small lakes whose shores 
are a very jungle of graceful palms and other dense 
tropical plants. There is a beautiful driveway along 
the beach which is the promenade for the wealthy 
of the place and, during the afternoon, one can al- 
most imagine that he is on some fashionable Euro- 
pean thoroughfare from the numerous grand 
carriages and well-groomed horses which pass. Rich- 
ardson and I swept back and forth on this lengthy 
boulevard in our rickshaws. We continued into 
Cinnamon Park, where most of the Europeans live. 
We had foolishly agreed to pay our rickshaw coolies 
by the hour. My man became so apparent in his 
efforts to loaf that I remarked to Richardson that 



A VIEW OF SOUTHERN ASIA 133 

he was the slowest and laziest horse I had ever 
driven. 

"Mister, I'm a man, not a horse," said my coolie 
angrily and in excellent English, stopping and drop- 
ping the shafts of the vehicle. 

I never was so startled in my life. This was the 
first horse that I had ever had speak to me. I had 
become so accustomed to rickshaw men with whom. 
I could not communicate that this man's clear and 
to-the-point remark completely confused me for a 
minute. 

"Then you are the poorest man I ever saw," I 
finally said, "and if you don't show some signs of 
a horse very soon, you will find yourself out of a 
job." 

My threat to discharge him had no effect in in- 
creasing his momentum. Richardson and I dismissed 
both men, paid them off and returned to town on 
foot. 

After a short trip to Kandy in the interior of 
Ceylon, we sailed for India. It was a night's jour- 
ney to the little seaport town of Tuticorin and we 
took second-class passage. 

The two hundred or more naked coolies of the , 
steerage were walking down the pier towards the 
shore. Richardson and I were following close be- 
hind. Presently a man in uniform uttered a shrill 
call. The two hundred coolies stopped and sep- 
arated into two columns. The uniformed man beck- 
oned to us to come on. "Gangway for two white 
men," had evidently been the nature of the call. 



134 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

We were not used to such treatment. We were 
generally included in those swept aside. We were 
now in a land where the native, if he doesn't re- 
spect the white man, at least pretends that he does. 
This ceremonious entrance into India struck us as 
funny and we giggled our way down the double line 
of salaaming Tamils and Singhalese. 

"It's too bad you're not a Christian," remarked 
a strange and simple looking man as' I, smoking a 
cigarette, was waiting for my train at the Tuticorin 
station. 

"Why?" I asked, blowing a cloud of smoke in his 
face. 

"Just think of all the good you could do while 
travelling around the world." 

"How do you know that I am not a Christian?" 

"I was simply putting out a feeler," he said, some- 
what embarrassed. 

"I think I am a Christian but, probably, not ac- 
cording to your ideas." 

"Perhaps." 

"What is a Christian?" I asked, interested to 
know what the man's ideas were. 

"When a man is saved he is a Christian." 

"Isn't it rather difficult to know when such a 
happy state of affairs exists?" My train drew into 
the station at this moment and the theological dia- 
logue was brought to a sudden conclusion. I left 
this simple but well-meaning person, my pocket full 
of his pamphlets. He was a member of the sect of 
"Plymouth Brethren" working by himself convert- 



A VIEW OF SOUTHERN ASIA 135 

ing the heathen. If he uses no more tact on the 
natives than he did on me his efforts should be flat 
failures. I was told by a prominent missionary that 
there are many such persons in India who are 
labouring independently of an ecclesiastical organ- 
ization, the results of whose work are not very sub- 
stantial. 

Leaving our baggage at the station at Madura, 
Richardson and I rode in a springless cart to 
Pasumalai — a distance of about three miles. This 
cart was pulled by two bulls who were spurred on 
to greater speed by their naked driver who sat on 
the shafts and cruelly twisted their tails. We were 
going to call on the Rev. Dr. J. P. Jones, a promi- 
nent Congregational missionary and author of books 
on India, and have him outline an itinerary for us. 

Dr. Jones was leaving on an inspection tour of 
several of the mission schools in a nearby jungle, 
as we arrived at his house. He asked us to accom- 
pany him and also invited us to spend a couple of 
days at his home. We explained that we had left 
our baggage in Madura and that, although we ap- 
preciated his kindness, we did not want to impose 
on him. He insisted and sent a coolie to Madura 
for our bags. 

It was about noon when we left with Dr. Jones 
to visit the schools. The three of us rode in an- 
other seatless and springless cart drawn by two bulls. 
We passed through several small native settlements 
and towards evening came to one of about two 
hundred inhabitants. It was a thief caste village. 



136 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

Stealing was the sole trade of all the men. They 
made no pretence at doing anything else. Although 
closely guarded by the British police they were suc- 
cessful in robbing and looting the neighbouring vil- 
lages. Each night at twelve o'clock there was a 
roll call but, even after this hour, they would grease 
their bodies in order to slip from the grasp of 
their pursuers, get away and carry on their work. 

A number of shirtless women were threshing 
shocks of wheat as we entered the little settlement 
of mud huts, each with its thatched roof. Naked 
children were playing in the streets. Our advent 
soon became known and the village drummer, 
squatted by the school house, announced our arrival 
and summoned the people to come and meet us. It 
was hardly a minute before we were surrounded by 
two hundred or more odd and inquisitive-looking 
people. If I had not known where I was I should 
have thought myself in the wilds of Africa. The 
black bodies of the naked men glistened in the sun- 
light; the young boys and girls, clad in nothing but 
the happy smile of youth, hovered about us like a 
swarm of butterflies, and the almost nude women, 
remaining a little aloof, stared at us with eyes of 
intense curiosity. 

Every man in this interesting group was a thief. 
I began to get worried for fear one of them might 
steal my watch or the few coins I had in my purse. 
Dr. Jones allayed my fears when he informed me 
that there wasn't a pick-pocket among them. A hun- 
dred thieves and not one of them a pick-pocket! 



A VIEW OF SOUTHERN ASIA 137 

This was strange. I couldn't understand it. I had 
thought that this means of appropriating another 
man's possessions was fundamental and indispen- 
sable to the profession. I discovered also that these 
robbers never used pass keys, pistols, flash lights 
or gas pipes as means to hold up their neighbours. 
They didn't have such things. Now the mystery 
of a hundred thieves with no pick-pockets was solved. 
There were no pockets to pick. Their victims wore 
no clothes and they had had no training along this 
line. They didn't know a pocket when they saw 
one. 

Dr. Jones led the way into the small mud-walled 
school house. The room was full of naked boys 
and girls. The fathers and mothers crowded in at 
the rear of the little hall. They were an interesting 
and simple lot of savages. Richardson and I were 
given seats of honour near the teacher's desk and 
a wreath was placed about our necks. Dr. Jones 
asked for a report from the native teacher and also 
questioned several of the pupils on their lessons. 
He then explained to his audience that Richardson 
and I were Americans travelling around the world. 
He went into detail defining an American. He asked 
the chief of the village, a much whiskered and hairy- 
chested man, if he had any message to give us. 

"Tell them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 
and they will get around all right," were the chief's 
words of greeting as interpreted by Dr. Jones. 

"Why don't you believe in Him yourself?" asked 
the doctor. 



138 JOB TO JOB AROtJND THE WORLD 

"Don't waste your time on us old fellows. We 
are past saving. We have been thieves all our lives 
and you can't change us now. Do all you can to 
help the children and you will be doing a good 
work," was the chief's reply. 

All the natives gathered in the street in front 
of the school for the customary foot races which 
Dr. Jones held on each of his visits. There were 
four races: one for the boys; one for the girls; 
one for the women and one for the men. They were 
all eager to take part for the doctor distributed a 
few coins as prizes to the winners. The rivalry was 
intense and, at the conclusion of each race, there 
was much confusion with many disputes as to who 
finished first. Dr. Jones insisted on being the judge 
and all were informed that they must abide by his 
decision or all the games would be called off. 

That evening we enjoyed the hospitality of Dr. 
Jones. I slept in a comfortable bed, protected by 
a fine mosquito net and cooled by the breeze of a 
huge punka — which was operated by a coolie woman 
who sat on the porch all night and pulled the rope. 

In the cities of India foreigners use electric fans 
and in the rural districts a native-propelled punka. 
It is so intensely hot in some parts of the country 
that if the coolie goes to sleep on the job the for- 
eigner immediately awakens. 

Twenty thousand people die each year from snake 
bite in India. I awoke to find a small reptile in 
my room. The floors of the houses are built close 
to the ground and the doors and windows are often 



A VIEW OF SOUTHERN ASIA 139 

left open for ventilation. Snakes are so numerous 
that they frequently find their way into the huts 
of the natives and occasionally into the houses of 
the foreigners. 

Railroad travel in India is the cheapest I have 
ever known. From Madura to Trichinopoly is a 
distance of about one hundred miles. We rode 
native third-class and our tickets cost us but eight 
annas (sixteen cents) each. 

There are five classes of travel on Indian trains: 
first-class, second-class, intermediate, European 
third-class and native third-class. The trains are 
divided into compartments with a capacity of from 
twelve to twenty-four passengers. The first-class 
seats are covered with leather cushions and the seats 
of the other classes decrease in softness to the hard 
and cold benches of the native third-class. The 
first-class accommodations are used exclusively by 
British officials, missionaries, resident Europeans 
and tourists. The native third-class is a cattle train. 
These bare stall-like compartments are crowded with 
naked coolies — men, women and children — who are 
jammed in by the train guards like dried prunes. I 
have seen coolie after coolie slammed into one of 
these compartments, already full to the roof, until 
I thought the poor beggars would all die of suf- 
focation. 

The first-class fare is usually twelve or fifteen 
times greater than the native third-class. Our tickets 
from Madura to Trichinopoly would have cost us 
about $2.50 each for first-class. 



140 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

The cheapest possible fare from Calcutta to Bom- 
bay, a distance of over fifteen hundred miles and a 
three-day trip, is about $2.80. This rate is for 
native third-class accommodations. The first-class 
fare would be about fifty dollars and the intermedi- 
ate classes would be proportionately graduated in 
price. 

Richardson and I usually travelled native third- 
class. We were always able to get an empty com- 
partment, which we would monopolize to the ex- 
clusion of the natives. We ordered the poor chaps 
away as though they had no right in their own coun- 
try. Conductors do not stay on the trains but re- 
main at the stations where they take up the tickets 
as the trains arrive. They proved to be a negli- 
gent lot and frequently failed to collect our tickets. 
Richardson saved his uncollected fares and found 
that they totalled two thousand miles. We were 
in India two and a half months, travelled over five 
thousand miles and our railroad fares were only 
$24.40 each. 

We rented bicycles in Trichinopoly. These vehi- 
cles were the most decrepit and ancient pieces of 
machinery in active service on this earth. Rich- 
ardson's wheel had lost its back pedal feature. In 
other words, it was impossible to put on the brakes. 
He could not stop himself unless he fell off or came 
to a hill. We rode through the crowded streets of 
Trichinopoly. Rich was a reckless rider. I thought 
he was trying to kill a native child. With his un- 
controllable bicycle it is a mystery to me how he 



A VIEW OF SOUTHERN ASIA 141 

avoided running down several of the thousands of 
naked little babies who played in the dust of the 
street. Every moment one of them would dash in 
front of him. I expected that we should land in jail 
charged with manslaughter. 

Neither Trichinopoly or Tanjore has European 
hotels and the caste system excludes the unclean 
foreigner from the native inns. For twelve annas 
(twenty- four cents) we obtained a clean room on 
the second floor of the station. It contained a large 
bed, an electric fan and a private bath. We ate 
our meals in the station restaurant. Such prices 
and arrangements are hard to beat. 

Life seems to be a battle for coin. I could write 
a volume on the number of street fights I have seen 
in different parts of the world over the matter of a 
few cents. A Japanese coolie will wrangle for an 
hour over a sen. I have seen a score of Chinese 
grapple for a cash piece. It is hard to tell what a 
Filipino wouldn't do for a centavo. However, I 
think, a native of India can kick up more fuss over 
a two-cent piece than any man alive. 

Richardson and I had returned from the Roman 
Catholic Cathedral in Madras where Saint Thomas 
is said to be buried. We had made the trip in a 
double-seated rickshaw drawn by one man. By 
arrangement in advance the coolie had agreed to 
make the journey for ten annas. This, we were 
told, was a generous amount for the distance. I 
felt that he had had a hard time pulling two heavy 
men so I gave him a rupee, over-paying him six 



1 42 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

annas. He wasn't satisfied and bellowed for more. 
Richardson and I ignored him and went to our room 
on the third floor of the Y. M. C. A. building. The 
coolie followed us up the three flights of stairs. He 
had worked himself into a genuine state of anger. 
At first it was a pretence. We locked him out in 
the hall, where he remained at our door for twenty 
minutes pleading and begging for more money. I 
made up my mind that he could pursue me to Amer- 
ica or haunt me the rest of my life, but I would not 
pay him any more. I could be stubborn myself. 
He realized that I had made a mistake in over-paying 
him in the first place and he now thought that I was 
a tenderfoot and that I should sooner or later yield. 
The Y. M. C. A. authorities finally put him out of 
the building. 

The incident did not end here. It became the 
main topic for discussion among the coolies of Ma- 
dras. Each time we ventured on the streets a dozen 
of them would molest us and trail after us jeering 
and shouting a lot of jargon which we did not under- 
stand. They became regular pests and life in Ma- 
dras grew almost unbearable. We stood firm and 
resolved not to give an anna more even if we had to 
fight every coolie in Southern India. 

In a few days we left for Calcutta. We rode 
from the Y. M. C. A. to the railroad station in a 
bus. As we alighted at the entrance of the station, 
we were sighted by a group of coolies who made a 
mad rush at us from across the court. Others 
dropped their rickshaws and came plunging towards 



A VIEW OF SOUTHERN ASIA 143 

us from all directions like a huge flying wedge. We 
scrambled into the station, forced our way through 
the ticket gates, climbed aboard the first car and in 
two minutes were speeding towards Calcutta. That 
angry mob would have annihilated us in about five 
seconds. 



CHAPTER XI 

TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 

At Calcutta we lived in comfort. We were the 
guests of college friends of Richardson's. In Japan 
and China we stayed in native hotels and were con- 
stantly in contact with the people. The caste sys- 
tem of India barred us from mingling with the 
Hindus, even if we had desired to do so. It was 
impossible for us to eat at their restaurants and the 
nearest approach we could make to it was to buy 
our food at the native shops. We often ate at the 
foreign hotels and cafes when these institutions were 
to be found. There was usually a restaurant con- 
nected with the station. 

Harrison Road in Calcutta is one of the most in- 
teresting streets in the world. Thousands of people 
rove its sidewalks and scores of races are repre- 
sented among them. Hundreds of moving or reclin- 
ing bulls block the traffic. The natives pass around 
these sacred beasts and are careful not to disturb 
them. They belong to no one and wander aimlessly 
about, fed by the people. 

Richardson and I moved along this bustling street. 
We had been out seeing the sights for several hours 
and were hungry. In a native shop before us was 
a show-case of cakes. We stepped in to purchase a 

144 



TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 145 

couple. The merchant was putting the first cake 
in a paper bag when Richardson put out his hand 
to take one from the pile. The proprietor dropped 
the sack and dashed towards him. His wife threw 
her hands in the air and screamed, and two natives 
standing by shouted at the top of their voices. They 
were too late, Richardson had grabbed the cake 
and had part of it in his mouth. I thought the 
Hindus had gone insane. What they were saying 
I didn't know but it was something very important 
if one could judge from their numerous excited ges- 
tures. They gave us both a thorough scathing. One 
would have thought we had insulted the shop-keep- 
er's wife or had set fire to his place. No, it was 
more serious. Richardson had contaminated every 
cake in the shop. By touching the top one he had 
charged them all with uncleanness. We were out- 
castes. Several hundred cakes — or about one half 
the poor shop-keeper's stock — were ruined and could 
never be used. 

This disastrous result of our little transaction 
caused no end of excitement and twenty or more na- 
tives gathered to see what we had done. The shop- 
keeper and his wife immediately set about to throw 
away the cakes and with long sharp-pointed sticks 
like hoe handles began casting the polluted food into 
the street. 

"Hold on!" I shouted, "I will buy the whole 
bunch for a rupee." We had contaminated the out- 
fit and / thought this was an opportunity to get a 
bargain. 



146 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

"Good idea," exclaimed Richardson. "I will get 
a cart. Let's haul away every biscuit the poor beg- 
gar has." 

The word rupee sounded good to the ears of the 
shop-keeper who had looked upon the cakes as a 
total loss, and he accepted my offer at once. The 
next minute, Richardson and I were in the bakery 
business. A two-wheeled cart had backed up to the 
shop and we were loading on cakes as though we 
had done nothing else all our lives. Scores of 
Hindus congregated to see us buy out the shop- 
keeper. The cart was soon heaped high with cakes. 
They packed like bricks, being more substantial than 
the same variety of food in America. Richardson 
and I climbed on the seat with the driver and pur- 
sued our way down Harrison Road. Our little 
bread wagon excited more comment and caused 
more commotion than a circus in an American coun- 
try town. Every one was speculating on what we 
were going to do with all the cakes. We did not 
know ourselves. We couldn't give them to the 
poor, for the poor wouldn't eat them. I threw a 
couple at a group of natives on the street corner. 
They scattered like birds at the shot of a gun. We 
drove on. We came to our host's house. He 
thought we were crazy. We unloaded the cargo of 
cakes and placed them all in our bedroom. There 
they remained. We tried to eat them up but the 
job was too large. They finally found their way to 
the rubbish barrel. 

Darjeerling is a beautiful settlement at an eleva- 



TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 147 

tion of seven thousand feet. Here we had come 
to view the Himalaya Mountains. On a strange 
little train, which was as elastic as a snake, we wound 
in and out among the valleys, scaled the sides of 
the mountains and arrived at this little town among 
the clouds. The scenery was stupendous. The 
world's greatest peaks were about us like tremendous 
church spires. 

Everything out of doors was wonderful and beau- 
tiful. Everything inside was wonderfully incon- 
venient, uncomfortable and unhealthful. We stayed 
at the "Rockhouse" — appropriately named — and it 
was one of the worst shelters I have ever occupied. 
The place was run by a woman with a dirty apron. 
I doubt if she had ever done up her hair since 
childhood. Her children were the most untidy white 
youngsters in the Indian Empire. That's a safe 
statement. The carpets were filthy with spots and 
dust; a couple of mangy dogs hung listlessly about; 
the guests of the house looked like a bunch of crip- 
ples; the food was poorly cooked and tasteless and 
the atmosphere of the place was stale and musty 
from lack of ventilation. If there is any other afflic- 
tion a boarding house can have, I should like to 
know it. 

With the "Rockhouse" as a background for com- 
parison, the beauty of the Himalayas stood forth 
stronger than ever. We arose one morning at 2 : 30 
o'clock and went on horseback to Tiger Hill to see 
the sunrise. It was a sight that no one can describe 
and one that I shall never forget. The world's 



148 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

greatest peaks, white with snow and tinged with 
the glistening gold of the sun, appeared one by one 
above the clouds at the break of dawn. First, 
Kinchenjanga with its 28,156 feet arose like a mon- 
ster iceberg, and then, in turn, appeared Kaby 
(24,015 feet), Jannu (25,304), Pandim (22,017), 
and Jabanu (19,450) . Last of all, far away, Mount 
Everest (29,002) — the giant of them all — thrust its 
gold-tipped summit into view. The sea of clouds 
shone like a vast sheet of light, and the rugged snowy 
peaks, aglow with the rays of the sun, stood like 
mighty towers of marble. It is one of the most 
beautiful scenes the world has to offer. 

The native population of Darjeerling is a mix- 
ture of Paharis, Nepalese, Tibetans, and Bhutians, 
people from the small kingdoms of the mountains. 
They look like a cross between a North American 
Indian and a Chinese — with their almond eyes and 
red skin. They are very fond of colours and jew- 
elry. Some of them wore earrings two inches in 
diameter and others had ear ornaments six inches 
long which were so heavy that they had to be sup- 
ported by a band over the head. The people of 
India adorn every part of their bodies with trinkets. 
I have seen women with rings on their toes, anklets 
all the way to their knees, bracelets up to their el- 
bows, ear ornaments, rings in their noses and beads 
pinned to their foreheads. The whole outfit would 
hardly be worth a dollar. 

At Benares, the Holy City of the Hindus, we put 
up at a Dak Bungalow, a small house with bedrooms, 



TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 149 

sitting room and kitchen, provided by the govern- 
ment for travellers. We were charged only eight 
annas (sixteen cents) a day for our accommodations. 

We met a British missionary in the station and 
asked him to outline an itinerary for us to aid us 
in seeing Benares. 

"Have you any business to attend to here?" he 
asked. 

"No, why?" I said. 

"There is an epidemic of cholera in Benares and 
twenty British soldiers in the cantonment within 
three hundred yards of us died last night. My ad- 
vice to you is to leave town as soon as you can." 

The missionary's warning had no effect on us for 
we had heard it before and expected to hear it 
again. Every Indian city generally has a number 
of cases of cholera and other contagious diseases. 
If we had taken the advice of every man who told 
us to move on because of an epidemic we should 
have been advised out of the country in a very short 
time. It was our custom to reduce our chances of 
getting cholera by drinking only bottled liquids and 
eating only thoroughly cooked food. 

We drove about Benares in a jutka. This is one 
of the most picturesque vehicles in the world. If 
anybody had the courage to ride in one on Broad- 
way he would at once be arrested. It is a two- 
wheeled cart drawn by a horse that seldom gets 
a chance to eat. There is no place for the driver 
or passenger to sit and they stick on as best they 
can, letting their feet drag in the street. Richardson 



ISO JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

and I mounted one of these carriages and took in 
the sights of the city. 

Benares seemed to be the focal point for all the 
feeble-minded, crippled and destitute persons of 
India. Ascetics, beggars and religious fanatics were 
as numerous as were the flies. The temples were 
thronged with pilgrims from all parts of the empire 
and the Ganges was crowded with natives bathing 
in the muddy water and even drinking the filthy 
liquid. The Jal Sain Ghat was a gruesome place. 
Here the dead bodies of the high caste Hindus are 
cremated. They are burned on piles of wood and 
the ashes are dumped into the river, adding to the 
pleasant character of the water. • 

Why is it that religion ] and filth so often travel 
together in this world? We visited the Kalighat, 
a temple in honour of the goddess Kali, the wife of 
Shiva. We were fortunate or unfortunate, I don't 
know which, to be present at the celebration of the 
chief annual festival held in this temple. Many 
thousands of half-clad people were making pilgrim- 
ages to the place. Bullocks and goats were being 
offered as sacrifices to the numerous Hindu gods. 
We came to the court where the animals were killed. 
The place looked more like a slaughter-house than 
a temple of worship. The dead bodies of a dozen 
bulls and goats were lying on the stone floor, reek- 
ing blood and filth, with their entrails exposed and 
protruding. This scene might have interested a 
butcher. To me it was revolting. We picked our 
way among these carcasses to another part of the 




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H 
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w 

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TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 151 

temple. Here we saw a green, scummy, unsanitary 
pool of water. Several hundred people were bath- 
ing in it and drinking the putrid stuff. At the en- 
trances to the temple hordes of deformed beggars 
— many half-eaten with leprosy — extended their 
partially decayed limbs, soliciting funds. It was a 
disgusting and depressing scene. I prefer an au- 
topsy. 

Our train arrived in Lucknow at two o'clock in 
the morning. We finished our night's sleep on the 
stone floor of the men's waiting room in the sta- 
tion. A man who looked like a missionary advised 
us to leave the city on account of an epidemic of 
cholera. We smiled at him. 

Both Lucknow and Cawnpore are chiefly of in- 
terest on account of their connection with the sad 
events of the Indian Mutiny. These cities are full 
of monuments and memorials which are kept in ex- 
cellent condition by the British Government. 

My chief recollection of Lucknow is an intense 
thirst. It is the most difficult city in the world in 
which to get a drink of any kind. We rented bi- 
cycles and toured about the thirty-six square miles 
of the city. We had visited a number of places and 
ridden about ten miles when, hot and dusty, we 
were seized with an intolerable thirst. We were in 
the midst of the native shops. A sanitary glass of 
water was as rare as in the middle of the desert. 
We rode on, hoping to find a better part of the 
city. We went on for miles. The narrow streets 
were six inches in dust; the sun was so hot that 



152 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

we fairly simmered in perspiration and the odours 
from the native shops were enough to make a man 
faint. A naked ascetic, rolling over and over on 
the dusty road, would get in our way. In each 
block a dozen beggars would plead for funds and 
the rays of the sun would nearly burn us up. We 
got out of the native quarter into the British sec- 
tion. My throat was parched and Richardson said 
his tongue felt like a sharp stick in his mouth. We 
found an oasis. We had been in search of water 
for two hours. 

At Cawnpore we made our beds in an empty box- 
car on a side track in the freight yards. 

"What's up?" asked Richardson, awakening about 
midnight by a sudden jolt to the car. 

"I suppose they're going to take this empty away," 
I said. 

"Let's get out of here," suggested Richardson. 

"No, stay in and see where they take us. We 
may get a free ride to some place." 

We were banged back and forth on switches for 
nearly an hour. There was no chance to sleep. We 
sat up and smoked. At last the engine whistled 
and we started for some place : we didn't know or 
care where it was. With the even motion of going 
in one direction we were able to sleep. I never 
slept more confortably in an American Pullman, 
when I knew my destination, than I did in that empty 
Indian freight car bound for I didn't know where. 
When we awoke the old box-car was at a stand- 
still. I opened the door and peered out. We were 



TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 153 

in a freight yard and appeared to be on a siding. 
There were trains on both sides of us and I could 
see nothing but box-cars, flat-cars and engines. We 
grabbed our bags and in a minute were walking 
towards one end of our train. We came to the 
station. 

"What are you doing in the yards?" a Britisher 
in uniform called out. 

"Just walked in from Cawnpore," I replied, not 
knowing how far we had travelled. "That's a pretty 
good hike, isn't it?" I continued. 

"Indeed, it is," said the Englishman. "When 
did you start?" 

"Last night," I answered. "How far is it?" 

"One hundred and sixty miles." 

"What's the name of this town, anyway?" asked 
Richardson, changing the subject. 

"Agra," said the Britisher, who appeared to take 
our story without doubting a word of it. 

We got by him and in ten minutes were housed 
in a Dak Bungalozv where we cooked our own meals 
and lived a life of leisure at about fifty cents a day, 
each. 

We were hardly settled in our new home when 
a missionary knocked at our door and advised us 
to leave the city on account of an epidemic of chol- 
era. We smiled at him. 

Agra is the home of the most beautiful building 
in the world — the Taj Mahal. Most of the mag. 
nificent structures which make Agra so interesting 
are in the Fort. The Taj Mahal stands by itself 



154 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

about a mile away on the banks of the Junna River 
and its solitude prevents anything impairing its 
beauty. 

Commenced in 1630 by Emperor Shah Jahan, as 
a tomb for his favourite wife, it is to-day as fresh 
and new looking as though it had just been taken 
out of the band-box. Surrounded by magnificent 
gardens and fountains, approached by imposing red 
sandstone gates, it is the perfection of beauty and 
symmetry. It is built of white marble and, with 
its huge dome and four stately minarets resting 
against the azure sky, presents a picture of wonder- 
ful colour and perfect harmony. I have never seen 
a more beautiful edifice. 

The whole of India was talking Durbar. We 
had been told a dozen times that it would be im- 
possible to obtain hotel accommodations in Delhi 
for less than ten dollars a day. We were advised 
to eliminate this city from our itinerary as only the 
rich could afford to stay there during the Coronation 
festivities. 

We arrived in Delhi late in the evening and had 
a good meal at the station restaurant. This meal 
cost us only one-half the rate listed on the menu 
card. This pleasing reduction had happened sev- 
eral times before, during our travels in India, but 
we did not know the reason until the waiter in the 
Delhi restaurant asked what regiment we belonged 
to. We had been taken for British soldiers. It 
seems that in certain cities Tommy Atkins gets a 
discount of fifty per cent, in all eating places. India 



TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 155 

is no place for a woollen suit. White linen or duck 
are the clothes usually worn by foreigners. Rich- 
ardson and I didn't have the time or the money to 
have white suits laundered. We solved the prob- 
lem by usually wearing khaki and white duck only 
for special occasions. With our khaki suits and 
brown pith helmets we looked like British sol- 
diers. 

In the Delhi restaurant we got a thirty cent meal 
for fifteen cents. This wasn't a bad beginning for 
a city in which ten dollars a day was the minimum 
expense for living. We went out of the station into 
the darkness of a large park nearby. 

"Can you speak English? 1 ' said Richardson to the 
first passerby. There was no response. 

"Hey, there, do you understand English?" I 
shouted to a group of natives. They looked at me 
as though I were crazy. 

A lone man strutted towards us. He looked like 
he might know something. 

"Where can we find a good cheap hotel?" Rich- 
ardson asked. 

"The Coronation Hotel," the man replied in good 
English. 

"What kind of a joint is it?" I interrupted. 

"A good place. Just built for the Durbar." 

"Lead us to it," said Richardson. 

The native accompanied us to the hotel which 
was but a short distance away in the business sec- 
tion of Delhi. It was conducted by a Mohammedan 
and consisted of about twenty rooms on the roof 



156 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

of a large brick building. We were given a com- 
partment which we had to share with two Moslems. 
We furnished our own bed-clothes, as is the custom 
in India. The common wash-basin was at the other 
end of the roof. The hotel's rates were one rupee 
(thirty-three cents) a day each! The expensiveness 
of Delhi was a myth. 

The city was busy making preparations for the 
Durbar. Public buildings were being painted; flags 
were being hung; grand stands erected and streets 
paved. The Durbar grounds, about five miles from 
the city, covered hundreds of acres and consisted 
of thousands of tents which had been pitched to 
house the various maharajas, rajas and their retinue 
of attendants. Richardson and I explored the 
grounds. We visited the large amphitheatre, where 
King George was to be crowned emperor. It was 
a large semi-circular wooden building with a throne 
in the centre. The circle was completed by a mound 
of earth on which were placed seats. The struc- 
ture would accommodate about twenty thousand peo- 
ple and the earthen mound would hold about eighty 
thousand more. 

Preparations were being made on a large scale. 
A special Durbar Post Office of brick was erected. 
A new and imposing station, called "Kingsway," 
especially designed for King George, had been built. 
It was here we met the youthful Maharaja of Cooch 
Behar with his attractive little wife. They were 
wandering about the newly constructed station as 
naturally as though they were ordinary persons. 



TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 157 

"You're afraid to break in on them," I said to 
Richardson. 

"I beg your pardon, but would you kindly di- 
rect us to the amphitheatre where King George is 
to be crowned?" said Richardson, addressing his 
question to the Maharaja as he would to any other 
prospective informant. He answered at once. Our 
intrusion was so easy that it was a joke. The Ma- 
haraja was not a snob and with a clear voice and in 
good English, for he was a Cambridge man, told 
us how to find the theatre. He was a tall, rather 
slight fellow with a dark complexion and was 
dressed in a black European suit. His wife had on 
an ordinary dark dress and over her hat she wore 
a heavy black veil. They looked and acted like 
human beings. 

Richardson and I were asleep in a third-class 
compartment of a train with four British soldiers. 
We were on our way to Lahore, nearly four hun- 
dred miles north of Delhi. Our train had been at 
a standstill for a few minutes and when it started 
up I was awakened. I heard some one say "La- 
hore." 

"Rich, this is Lahore. Get up." I shouted and 
gave him a punch in the ribs. The train was slowly 
pulling out of the station. 

"Get out and catch our luggage as I throw it to 
you," I said. 

We awakened the soldiers. Richardson jumped 
off the car. I scrambled about the compartment to 
collect our belongings. The train was increasing 



158 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

its speed. I threw out one suitcase. Richardson 
didn't catch it. I threw out the other. Richardson 
missed it. I hurled the two hand bags out. I 
never moved so fast in my life. The soldiers helped 
me throw. Like a whirlwind we threw trousers, 
shoes, coats, shirts, hair-brushes, tooth-brushes, socks 
and toilet articles out through the compartment door. 
The train was now going about twenty miles an 
hour. I made a jump and landed on my face. There 
I was in my underclothes and bare feet. The pas- 
sengers, looking out of the car windows, thought 
we were drunk. The train swept by and left us. 

What a scene greeted us ! Richardson and I stood 
in our underwear — with all our personal belongings 
scattered for a hundred yards along the cement plat- 
form of the station. A hundred or more natives 
looked on in profound silence. I surveyed the scene 
and began to laugh. Dozens of things from shoes, 
coats and hats to toilet articles stretched from the 
station for nearly a block and two foreigners arrayed 
in B.V.D.'s! Surely it was a rare situation to be 
in at seven o'clock in the morning. We sat down 
on the cement platform and laughed ourselves 
out. 

We finally gathered ourselves together and 
dressed. The station master came, out to give us 
assistance. 

"Why doesn't some one announce the stations on 
these trains?" I inquired. "This is a fine way to 
land in Lahore." 

"This isn't Lahore," said the station master. 



TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 159 

"What?" cried Richardson and I together. 

"No, Lahore is five miles farther." 

"What in hell is the name of this place?" 

"Lahore Cantonment." 

All our scramble was for nothing. We had 
landed in the quarters of the British soldiers. There 
was no passenger train until evening. That was too 
long to wait, so we rode into Lahore proper on a 
freight which went by an hour later. 

Lahore was not worth all the trouble it took to 
get there. I have a hazy recollection of thousands 
of native shops, many temples and a large museum. 
I remember, rather distinctly, a large cannon in 
front of this museum. It was called "Kim's Gun," 
as it was on this weapon that Kim was supposed to 
have been sitting when the Lama came along, as 
recorded by Kipling. 

I do remember one other thing in Lahore. We 
met a shabbily dressed American who related a sad 
tale to us about being discharged from a theatrical 
company and how badly he had been treated. He 
said that he was broke and his appearance certainly 
indicated that he spoke the truth. The fellow being 
a countryman of ours, his speech moved us to the 
extent of ten rupees. One hour later our down-and- 
out American friend was reeling about the station 
so intoxicated that he didn't recognize me when I 
spoke to him. He was drunk at our expense. 

We didn't know one soul among Bombay's mil- 
lion inhabitants when we arrived in that city. There 
were about twenty Americans living there and I 



160 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

think we met them all before we had been there a 
week. We lived at the Y. M. C. A. and received 
our board and room — for both of us — for five 
rupees ($1.65) a day. We met the acting American 
Consul and through him the American dentist, the 
Standard Oil crowd and a number of other young 
business men. They all entertained us royally. We 
went to their homes for dinner, had the privileges 
of their clubs and attended a number of social func- 
tions at their invitation. 

We went to Poona and spent a night in the Na- 
tional Hotel. I will never forget that night if I 
live a thousand years. We retired at ten o'clock. 
By eleven I had killed forty-two bed-bugs. This 
is not an estimate: it is actual count. I didn't ask 
the proprietor for another bed for I thought all of 
them would be alike and I estimated that I had killed 
off nearly all the bugs in my present bed. At mid- 
night I had slaughtered sixty-seven. This is not a 
parlour subject, I know. But we are not in a par- 
lour. We are in an Indian bedroom. I would raise 
up the bed-clothes, light the lamp and they would 
flock in all directions, like the ribs of a fan, to get 
under cover. At one o'clock I had killed eighty-one. 
There seemed to be no end. I couldn't stand it any 
longer. I tried to rout out the proprietor but he 
was asleep and couldn't be found. I returned to 
my room and made my couch on the floor. The 
mosquitoes nearly finished me during the rest of 
the night. I venture the guess that this hotel en- 
tertains only transients. One night is enough. 



TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 161 

We drove in a tonga, a two-wheeled cart, to the 
Karli Cave. This excavation is made out of a solid 
rock and is said to have been done two hundred 
years before Christ. It resembles an early Chris- 
tian church in its arrangement and all the dimen- 
sions are similar to those of the choir of Norwich 
Cathedral. 

It was our plan to catch the mail train for Bom- 
bay. On our return from the cave one of the shafts 
of the tonga broke. The driver was unable to mend 
it. We had six miles to go to the station and we 
had but little time. We estimated what the tonga 
had been worth, paid the driver and left him in 
the road. We ran the entire six miles through a 
heavy tropical rain. The heat was intense and the 
atmosphere was sultry and close. Drenched to the 
skin we arrived at the station only to see the rear- 
end of the train pulling out of the yards. Two hours 
later we took a slow train for Bombay. 

Driving a bargain in India takes time, if nothing 
else. All merchants charge what the traffic will 
bear. Richardson and I wanted two deck chairs and 
made up our minds that we were going to get them 
at a fair price. One evening I dropped into a native 
shop to look over the stock. ^ 

"How much is this steamer chair?" I asked the 
shop-keeper. 

"Twelve rupees." I started to walk out. 

"How much will you give?" the native called out. 

"Two rupees," I said emphatically. 

"No. I will let you have it for eight." 



1 62 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

"Two rupees are all I will give you," I said as I 
continued to walk towards the door. 

"Six rupees." The native reduced his price. I 
took a few steps nearer the door. 

"Four rupees," he uttered reluctantly. This fig- 
ure began to interest me so I lingered to continue 
the negotiations. 

"I will give you only two rupees," I said again. 
"That chair isn't worth an anna more." 

"No. Four rupees or no sale." The old fellow 
had reached his rock bottom price. 

"I will meet you half way and give you three 
rupees," I said. 

"No, four rupees." He stood pat. 

I finally left the shop telling the native that I 
had to consult a friend before making any purchase 
and that I would come again in the morning. I in- 
formed Richardson of the negotiations. I explained 
that I had worked the native from twelve rupees 
down to four and I suggested that he continue to 
beat down the price from that point. 

That same evening we went to the shop and I 
waited on the sidewalk while Richardson entered 
to resume the battle with the poor shop-keeper. 

"I will give you three rupees for that chair," he 
said to the native, pointing to the piece of furniture 
which was the subject of all the wrangle. 

"No. I have a man coming in the morning who 
is going to buy it for four rupees." I was the man. 
I had made no promises. 

Richardson struck a dead-lock at once. As he 



TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA 163 

came out of the shop I went in. It seemed a heart- 
less thing to brow-beat the poor native, but we were 
out for a record. 

"Well, I have decided that I can't pay any more 
than three rupees for the chair," I said. 

"All right, no sale then." 

I walked out of the shop, joined Richardson on 
the side-walk and started up the street. We hadn't 
gone half a block when the native came running after 
us. 

"Three rupees, eight annas," he shouted. 

"All right," I said. "I have some heart left. 
We have beaten the poor chap down far enough," 
I added to Richardson. 

We returned and bought two chairs. Three 
rupees, eight annas, seems a big reduction from 
twelve rupees but even this figure was exorbitant. 
Both chairs collapsed before they ever saw the deck 
of a ship. 



CHAPTER XII 

A SAILOR TO SUEZ 

The first-class fare on the large liners from Bom- 
bay to the Suez Canal was two hundred and twenty 
dollars. The cheapest that Richardson and I could 
find was one hundred and eighty-five dollars. We 
had the money to pay this price but considered that 
it would make a large and unnecessary hole in our 
coin. We agreed not to pay a cent more than twenty 
dollars each, even if it meant spending the rest of 
our lives in Bombay. We solemnly shook hands on 
this. 

Bombay is a large shipping port and it appeared, 
on first impression, to be a fertile field from which 
two semi-stranded roamers could obtain passage. 
We made a thorough canvass of the waterfront 
in search of a job. Richardson would strike the 
skipper of one ship while I tried my luck with an- 
other, or we would board the same boat together, 
one of us interview the captain while the other 
placed the case before the steward. We hung out 
at the Seamen's Institute, skippers' clubs, water- 
front saloons, sailors' rest houses and about the 
docks. It was uphill work for we received little 
encouragement and, often, short and rough treat- 

164 



A SAILOR TO SUEZ 165 

ment at the hands of the hardened old seamen. 
We didn't give up our search until we had visited 
all the vessels in the harbour — which took up the 
greater part of three days. We could find noth- 
ing. It was impossible for us to compete with 
Oriental, South African and Hindu labour on these 
ships, not to mention the practical impossibility of 
•living on their diet and in their unsanitary quarters. 
We finally and reluctantly gave up hope of getting 
out as toilers and decided to do the next best thing. 
We began our campaign over again and visited all 
the freighters, asking the captains how much they 
wanted in money to take us to the Canal. Many 
of them were insulted at such a proposal. Some 
regretfully said that their owners had rigid rules 
against taking any one. Others wanted more than 
our twenty-dollar limit. 

Our luck had been pretty tough and was due to 
change. We boarded the steamer Levanzo, an old- 
time Italian freighter, which had ploughed the sea 
for centuries, if her looks indicated anything. We 
marched straight up to the bridge where the old 
skipper was standing, smoking a pipe with an odour 
strong enough to kill a hog. 

"Do you speak English?" I inquired. 

"A little," was the reply. 

"Which way are you going?" was my second 
question. 

"To Napoli," said the Italian. 

"When do you get under way?" 

"To-morrow afternoon at one o'clock." 



166 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

"What do you want to take the two of us through 
the Canal?" 

"I will take you for sixty rupees (twenty dollars) 
each, I think," he said after a minute's reflection. 

"All right." 

The captain explained that we must sign on as 
members of the crew, for he was not allowed to 
take passengers and we should have to be accounted 
for both at departure and arrival. We signed up 
without delay; Richardson as assistant cook and I as 
deck hand. 

Although the boat was not scheduled to leave un- 
til one o'clock the following afternoon we were in- 
structed to be on hand at ten in the morning for a 
quarantine inspection. It is a regulation that the 
crews of all ships leaving Indian ports have to be 
examined before the authorities will issue clearing 
papers, thus insuring that no Indian disease will be 
transmitted to Europe. Richardson and I lined up 
at the appointed hour the next day with the rest of 
the crew and filed by the doctors while they gave us 
a farcical examination. 

This proceeding lasted only a few minutes and 
at its completion we were driven through the quar- 
antine sheds to the wharf. It was then two hours 
before our ship was to leave and Richardson re- 
turned to town to bid farewell to our friends who 
had entertained us. I took all the luggage and went 
to the boat. 

At one o'clock, the hour that the Levanzo was 
to get under way, Richardson had not returned. 



A SAILOR TO SUEZ 167 

The British quarantine doctor issued an order for 
the crew to come off the ship and line up so as to 
file on one at a time. He beckoned to me and I 
came down the gangway and fell in at the rear. 

"Where's your friend?" the doctor asked, 
abruptly, addressing me. 

"He's not here," I replied with an attempted eva- 
sion of the question, not wishing to divulge the fact 
that my partner had broken quarantine. 

"He has broken quarantine and can't go on this 
ship," the officer said, angrily. "Do you want to 
go without him?" 

I said nothing. 

"You must make up your mind at once," said 
the doctor. 

"All right, I will go." I thought that the officer 
didn't mean every word and that Richardson would 
arrive in a few minutes and have no difficulty in get- 
ting aboard. 

The motley Italian crew ascended the gangway 
and, as I was the last one to go aboard, the plank 
was removed and several sailors began loosening 
the lines. I went up on the stern to look across 
the wharf to see if Richardson was in sight. He 
was not. The ship was pulling away from the pier. 
Ideas flew through my mind like water through a 
sieve. I had all Richardson's baggage and what 
was worse I had all his money. From Bombay to 
Suez was three thousand miles. It took at least 
ten days to make the trip. To leave Richardson 
stranded on the shores of India would be nothing 



1 68 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

short of murder. I was provoked at him for not 
appearing but my conscience vibrated with the guilty- 
pangs of deserting my friend and leaving him prob- 
ably to starve in a strange land. As these alternat- 
ing emotions were flashing in and out of my mind, 
the bow of the ship was swinging away from the 
pier. At last I saw Richardson's head bobbing in 
the distance. I shouted, whistled and waved. My 
frantic efforts finally instilled in him the necessity 
for speed. He came bounding down the wharf like 
a big calf and attempted to board the ship. He 
was abruptly stopped by the captain, who ordered 
him to stay off. The marine doctor had left and 
there was nothing for me to do but to go on without 
my companion. The Levanzo was now making her 
final swing and I threw Richardson's luggage onto 
the wharf, hurled him his money wallet and bade 
him farewell. 

"I will wait for you in Cairo," I shouted as the 
boat was getting under way. Richardson stood on 
the pier with a philosophic smile. 

"All right. I will try and make a getaway to- 
night. So long." 

The old Italian "battleship" was soon out in the 
channel and in a few hours had her nose pointed 
towards the west and began her lengthy journey 
to the Canal. I wondered how Richardson would 
fare but had no doubt that he would get out some 
way. I therefore dismissed all conjectures from 
my mind and decided to wait for the news until we 
met some time in the future. 



A SAILOR TO SUEZ 169 

The Levanzo was a hardened, rusty old tramp. 
Her crew was entirely composed of Italians who 
knew little of this world beyond the range of their 
ship and the waterfronts of the ports to which they 
had sailed. I was consigned to the hold where 
my iron, hay-mattressed bunk was sandwiched in 
amongst those of the Italians, who huddled about 
like a bunch of gipsies. The dark, foul-smelling 
atmosphere, the wambling fumes of the ship's 
kitchen, the greasy and treacherous appearance of 
the crew — none of whom spoke a word of English 
— promised a trip whose equal I should never ex- 
perience. However, I had done sufficient travelling 
of this sort to feel at home in such surroundings 
and I played the part to a perfection hard to imagine 
in one who had seen most of the good things of 
this life. Attired in a blue flannel shirt and khaki 
trousers, I went barefooted, grew a beard— such 
as it was — and chewed quantities of the crew's black 
tobacco. 

At four bells the chief steward appeared on deck 
and called out, "mangiare." From the empty feel- 
ing of my stomach, coupled with the revolting odours 
emanating from the galley, I recognized the equiva- 
lent of the word dinner. I followed the crew in the 
hope of getting a square meal. We formed a line 
at the kitchen window, where we were given our 
eating implements for the voyage. They consisted 
of a tin cup, a tin sauce-pan, a knife, fork and spoon. 
We then marched in a body to the forecastle where 
we were given a piece of hard bread each and a 



170 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

pint of red wine. As we trooped back by the kitchen, 
the steward placed some macaroni in our sauce-pans 
and gave us some milkless and sugarless coffee. 
With this assortment of food we retired to the lower 
deck, sat on a winch or a coil of rope and proceeded 
to devour it. 

The second day out I lost my knife and, when 
I made an appeal for another I was so severely 
snubbed by the steward that I made no more re- 
quests during the rest of the voyage. I had to resort 
to my pocket knife to take the place of the lost 
article. 

Macaroni ! Macaroni ! I thought my stomach 
would become paralysed on the greasy stuff before 
the journey would end. I vowed that, if I ever 
reached shore, I would never allow the word maca- 
roni to be mentioned in my presence. The bread 
was actually so hard that each member of the crew 
was compelled to soften it in a tub of water — 
provided for the purpose — before it was possible to 
sink his teeth in it. When a man is hungry enough 
he will eat anything. Stew that almost turned my 
stomach one day and which I refused to eat, I would 
consider delicious the next. 

From Bombay to Suez is something over three 
thousand miles and at the rate our ship was trav- 
elling it would require sixteen days to make the 
trip. How the hours did drag — on a macaroni 
diet ! The long, hot, foodless days and the dark, 
stuffy nights in vermin-infested and unsanitary quar- 
ters made these sixteen days seem like sixteen years. 



A SAILOR TO SUEZ 171 

Between meals I was supposed to assist the crew. 
Because I was paying the captain a small sum for 
my passage I was let down rather easily on the 
work. However, I had to appear busy. Each morn- 
ing I scrubbed the stern deck and gave the place a 
general clean-up. In the afternoon I washed clothes 
in a ship-bucket or painted the iron railings and life 
boats. 

The days dragged slowly on, and three times be- 
tween sunrise and sunset the red wine and macaroni 
diet stared me in the face. We entered the Red 
Sea, our journey only half completed; and the 
thought rose in my mind that I had eight days more 
of macaroni. However, all good things come to 
an end and, thank God, the bad ones are not exempt 
in this respect. On the sixteenth day at midnight 
the Levanzo pulled into Suez, the eastern entrance 
of the Canal. 

As soon as the old tub dropped anchor I gave 
the captain twenty dollars for my passage and, with 
the speed of a fly, was on my way to shore in a 
small boat propelled by an Arab, leaving the Le- 
vanzo to sink in her tracks for all I cared. I was 
taken to the Customs House where I was subjected 
to the most rigid examination to be found anywhere 
in the world, at the hands and mercy of impudent, 
coarse and treacherous Arabs. These heavy fea- 
tured, horse-sized human beings — if such they can 
be called — were the worst type of men I had seen 
in a long time — and I had seen some tough speci- 
mens in the past few months. Fortunately my be- 



172 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

longings made up such a meagre collection that I 
proved of little interest to these huge parasites who 
prey upon innocent travellers who wend their way 
through the Canal. 

After an ordeal that lasted two hours, in spite of 
the size of my luggage, I was liberated. I wandered 
up the track to the station where I learned that a 
train for Cairo was to leave at six o'clock in the 
morning. There was an hotel at Suez but I did 
not care to pay four dollars of my precious coin 
for an equal number of hours in bed. I stood in 
front of the deserted station for something, or any- 
thing, to happen. Presently a lean-looking English- 
man ambled along. This man, who had a face like 
a dried prune, entered into conversation with me 
and I learned that he was a travelling acrobat who, 
with his wife and little daughter, had just come in 
from the Far East after a theatrical tour of several 
months. 

"Where are you going to put up?" he asked. 

"I don't know. I can't see the hotel for only four 
hours. I thought I would crawl in one of those 
passenger coaches on the siding over there," I said, 
pointing to several cars on an adjacent track. 

"All right, old chap, I will go with you. Wait 
until I get my wife and daughter," said the acrobat 
as he stepped around the corner of the station for 
his family. 

In a minute he returned with his wife, a London 
cockney type, whose general appearance indicated 
that she had seen chiefly the rough spots of this 



A SAILOR TO SUEZ 173 

earth. She wore a dress of many colours and a hat 
which looked like a vegetable salad. Clinging to her 
skirt was a frail little girl who showed the effects 
of her wandering life. The four of us, with our 
luggage, crossed the tracks and tried the doors of 
several cars but all were locked. At this moment, 
a large greedy-looking Arab appeared out of the 
darkness and asked what we wanted. 

"A place to sleep," I replied. 

"Come with me," blurted the man. 

We were so tired that if the devil himself had 
appeared on the scene and offered us a bed and shel- 
ter we would have eagerly accepted. We followed 
this burly human being and he led us to a small 
shed about ten by twelve feet. He opened the door 
and ushered us in and immediately left, stating that 
he would call us at six o'clock. This shack was 
certainly a beautiful bedroom for our homeless little 
band — nothing but a barren wooden house with the 
earth for the floor and cracks in the walls through 
which the cold wind rushed in torrents. 

The acrobat's wife coiled up in one corner with 
the little girl on her lap, the man nestled in another 
and I stretched myself diagonally across a third. 
Sleep was impossible. We all were nearly petrified 
with the cold. The Englishman took to his feet and 
began walking the floor in silence. I soon followed 
his example. We paced and repaced that wretched 
ten by twelve compartment for an hour, as speechless 
as two ghosts. Finally, into the tomb-like silence, the 
Englishman thrust these words, "Feed the animals." 



174 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

A few seconds' laughter at this remark and silence 
reigned again. At the end of the second hour the 
woman, who we supposed had dozed off to sleep, 
murmured, "If my mother could see me now." In 
this way the night crept on and we ignored our hard- 
ships. 

The Arab appeared at six o'clock and after paying 
him an exorbitant fee, which he exacted, we boarded 
a third-class coach of an Egyptian train and, sur- 
rounded by a curious lot of natives, started towards 
Cairo. I have been told that Egypt was the most 
expensive country in the world in which to travel 
and that it would be impossible for me to live on 
less than several dollars a day. Such information 
had been given me about so many countries and cities 
that it was a joke. Egypt turned out to be one of 
the cheapest sections of the globe I ever encountered. 

After nearly a day's journey across the desert 
the train drew into the huge station at Cairo and 
in a few minutes I was flowing with the crowds 
towards the street. I stood for an instant on the 
sidewalk and surveyed the swarms of people who 
roamed the large plaza in front of the station. I 
pulled my hat down securely on my head and dived 
into this sea of humanity and in a second was lost 
in the million or more inhabitants of that city — of 
whom I knew not a single soul. 

I was on my way to the Hotel des Princes, a 
hostelry recommended to me by my English acrobat 
friend. By inquiring of every person who gave any 
indication that he might speak English, I found 



A SAILOR TO SUEZ 175 

the hotel. It was a two-story structure operated by 
a middle-class native. I soon made a deal with him 
by which I got a room with a double bed for twenty- 
five cents a day, with the promise of a rate of forty 
cents for two when Richardson arrived. This was 
surely cheap enough and I thought it was ridiculously 
so when I recalled the statements made to me con- 
cerning the high cost of living.in Cairo. 

This hotel had no dining room and it was neces- 
sary to rustle a cheap but sanitary eating place. 
Perhaps this was where Cairo deserved its repu- 
tation for being an expensive city. I left the hotel 
determined to be the first man to live on a reasonable 
amount in the Egyptian capital. I had hardly walked 
a block when I saw in an alley a sign which read, 
" Soldiers' Club." I directed my steps towards it, 
entered the place and in a minute was studiously 
reading the daily menu, which was posted on a bul- 
letin board in the hallway. Steak, potatoes, vege- 
tables and tea for three piastres (fifteen cents) ; 
tarts and pudding — one piastre, and other eatables 
were listed at equally low prices. As I stood gazing 
at the bill of fare, almost paralysed with delight 
over such a fortunate discovery, an Englishman ap- 
proached. 

"What are you looking for?" he asked. 

"For something to eat," I replied. "I am making 
a sort of tramp trip around the world and expect 
to be in Cairo a few days. Money is rather a scarce 
article with me and I would like to know what my 
chances are of eating here." 



176 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

"Are you a British soldier?" inquired the English- 
man. 

"No, sir." 

"Are you an ex-soldier?" asked the man, sizing 
up the hungry-looking traveller. 

"No, sir," was my honest reply. 

"All right," said the club man with a smile. "You 
may eat here." 

"Thanks," I added and immediately sat down 
and ate one of the finest meals ever served anywhere 
for fifteen cents. The Soldiers' Club, an institution 
of the British soldiers in Cairo, served as a sort of 
home for me during my stay in the city. I had just 
left the club when two blocks farther up the street 
I came across a sign with the inscription "Soldiers' 
Home" and in this place I found a similar reception 
and similar prices. To accuse Cairo of being ex- 
pensive was slander. I labelled it one of the most 
inexpensive places I had visited. 

It was now eighteen days since I had left Richard- 
son on the wharf in Bombay and during this time 
I had not heard a word from him. Shortly after 
my arrival in Cairo I called at the office of the 
American Consul, the Y. M. C. A. and Thomas 
Cook and Son and left in each place my address 
with instructions to direct Richardson to me in the 
event that he came in and inquired. I also met an 
occasional train coming in from Port Said. It was 
on one of these that I found him. 

As soon as my steamer got under way from Bom- 
bay, Richardson walked across the wharf and 



A SAILOR TO SUEZ 177 

boarded the British tramp Farington. He went up 
on the bridge and asked the captain for passage to 
the Canal. The pleasant-looking skipper stated that 
he was sorry that he could not take him, as his ship 
had received her papers and was to leave that 
night at eight o'clock. Richardson graciously with- 
drew and descended from the bridge but, instead 
of leaving the vessel, he threw his luggage down an 
open hatchway and climbed down himself. Here he 
crawled off to a crevice in the cargo and remained 
there until the following morning when the ship was 
about two hundred miles out to sea. He appeared 
on deck shortly before breakfast and immediately 
informed the captain what he had done. The skip- 
per took it very kindly. Instead of putting Rich- 
ardson to work he greeted him cordially and said 
if it had been proper he would have suggested that 
he stow away. 

Richardson's trip on the Farington was in strong 
contrast to mine on the Levanzo. He travelled like 
a civilized person. The captain was a fine type of 
Englishman and was very hospitable. The first 
officer was a thoroughly good chap and was very 
friendly. 

Richardson had a cabin on the main deck adjoin- 
ing the officers; he ate with the second mate and 
he had the freedom of the entire ship. He spent 
many hours on the bridge where the officers an- 
swered his questions. At the end of the journey 
he was almost a past-master at navigation. He un- 
derstood the use of the log; he could locate a ship 



178 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

at sea with the sextant and he was able to handle 
the wheel and give signals to the engine room. 

The Farington arrived at Suez and steamed 
through the Canal to Port Said. As Richardson 
was not listed on the ship's papers he had to hide 
down the hold while the port officials came on board 
for the inspection. As soon as she was received 
he . slid over the side of the ship, jumped into a 
native boat and was rowed ashore. 



CHAPTER XIII 

AN AMERICAN CHRISTMAS IN JERUSALEM 

Bakshish is the call of the Near East. Nearly 
every man, woman and child in Egypt must say this 
word a thousand times a day. At Memphis two 
hundred people greeted us a mile from the town 
with a chorus of bakshish. They trailed along with 
us for an hour with their hands extended, begging 
for coins. This group of people was one of the 
most forlorn I have ever seen. There were all ages 
of both sexes represented among them. The little 
children tripped along in front of us, the old men 
made earnest appeals for money and the women, 
attired in what appeared to be simply an assortment 
of rags, tottered along behind us calling bakshish 
incessantly. 

The greatest act of kindness that any one could 
do these people would be to travel through the lit- 
tle villages with several tons of boracic acid and 
bathe the eyes of every inhabitant. Seventy-five 
per cent, of these poor creatures seem to be either 
blind or suffering from eye infection. It is all due 
to filth. The children are the most forlorn lot I 
ever saw. Their faces looked as though they had 
never been washed. I saw babies with a dozen flies 
on each eye and a score on their mouths, and their 

179 



180 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

mothers made no effort to brush them off. Every 
child's face was speckled with flies. It was enough 
to make a person sick to look at them. The young- 
sters with flies on their eyes and two-thirds of the 
aged blind! Why don't these people realize that 
there is a connection between these two conditions 
and do something? 

At Sakkara, where we saw eleven pyramids, in- 
cluding the famous step-pyramid, we negotiated with 
some native labourers for a camel ride. It was a 
couple of miles to the railroad and we arranged to 
travel the distance on these Oriental beasts of bur- 
den. We were in the rural districts and the camels 
were carrying loads of dirt. My man agreed to a 
piastre (five cents) for the trip. When I was 
mounted he demanded a shilling. I paid no atten- 
tion to him. He started the beast on the run in 
the hope of frightening me. It was simply fun. 
Then he urged the animal into a gallop. I didn't 
know a camel was capable of such a thing. I know 
it now. A scenic railway is as mild as a baby car- 
riage when compared to the up and down movements 
of a galloping camel. There isn't much speed about 
it. Two-thirds of the energy of the beast is devoted 
to vertical motions. I hung on to the canvas bag 
on the camel's back with the grip of a bull-dog. My 
insides were nearly shaken out. The native con- 
tinued to shout for a shilling and jab the camel in 
the belly with a sharp stick. The animal leaped 
and bounded about like a broncho. By a miracle I 
managed to hang on. 






A CHRISTMAS IN JERUSALEM 181 

Fifteen minutes of such a shaking process was 
enough for me. I swung my feet over to one side 
and jumped from the camel's back to the ploughed 
ground. My ride only cost me a piastre. It was 
well worth it. 

A man at the American Presbyterian Mission in 
Cairo told us that there was a crowd of American 
"free-lovers" in Jerusalem who frequently enter- 
tained travellers, and he thought we could get ac- 
commodations there. The free-love feature had an 
attractive sound to Richardson and myself and we 
concluded that if there was any of that sort of thing 
loose we would round it up. We therefore decided 
to go to Jerusalem at once. Our destination was 
the "American Colony," the name by which this 
group of people was known. 

We scrambled out of bed, packed, paid our hotel 
bills, rode a mile to the station — all in thirty min- 
utes — and left Cairo for Palestine. At Port Said 
we boarded the Maria Teresa of the Austrian Lloyd 
Company and took up our quarters in the steerage, 
along with a dozen French monks and others making 
a pilgrimage to the Holy City. There was one 
Austrian priest on board. He had a long brilliant 
red beard which looked as though it was the growth 
of centuries. When he saw me shaving before the 
common mirror in the steerage he was suddenly 
seized with the desire to part with the fearful brush 
he had on his face. He wanted to buy my razor. 
I, of course, wouldn't sell it. Then he asked to 
borrow it. I didn't very much like the idea of 



1 82 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

lending my razor to chop off the beards on strangers' 
faces. However, I passed over the weapon. 

The priest asked me to assist him. My part of 
the work was trimming his beard with scissors down 
to the point where the razor would be of service. I 
refused to do more. He did the shaving himself. 
It took him half an hour to ruin a good razor. 

It is but a night's journey to Jaffa and in the 
morning we were off the shore of that little town. 
The sea was very rough and we were unable to land. 
Jaffa hasn't any wharves and the captain considered 
it dangerous for the passengers to be taken ashore 
in the small native boats. We stood by all day, 
hoping that the sea would subside. Evening came 
and there was no change. 

There were a number of Americans among the 
first-class passengers. A California judge and his 
wife, a Chicago gas merchant and his wife, an Eng- 
lish clergyman and a Pentecost preacher proved the 
most interesting. Richardson and I paid no atten- 
tion to the steerage limits. We mingled with the 
first-class passengers and made several lasting friend- 
ships among them. 

We all wanted to be in Jerusalem and Bethlehem 
on Christmas Day. It was now the 22nd of Decem- 
ber and unless we landed somewhere soon we 
couldn't make it. The captain decided to sail 
for Haifa, whence we could go to Jerusalem by 
land. 

In the morning we arrived at Haifa. The purser 
presented us with a bill for two dollars for extra 



A CHRISTMAS IN JERUSALEM 183 

fare and food from Jaffa. All the passengers paid 
it. Richardson and I refused. 

"But you have to pay it," said the purser. 

"Pay nothing," I said, "we bought tickets to Jaffa 
and you didn't land us there." 

"All the passengers have paid it." 

"We don't care if they have," said Richardson. 

"I insist on your paying the money," the purser 
added in a most dignified manner. 

"No money from us. What are you going to do 
about it?" I said. 

"Well, if you persist in refusing to pay, I must 
have you write a letter to the Austrian Lloyd Com- 
pany stating that you declined to do so. I want 
something to show the officials of the company." 

"Sure, we will do that." 

Richardson and I framed up the following brief 
epistle which we gladly gave the Austrian purser. 
He couldn't read English and didn't know what was 
in it. 

"To the Austrian Lloyd Company: 

We are a pair of religious fanatics making our 
monthly pilgrimage to Jerusalem. For the first time 
in our many trips on your company's boats we are 
charged an extra fare. We bought tickets to Jaffa 
— not to Haifa. The purser demands two dollars 
more and says the high sea is the cause of it. We 
refuse to pay for rough weather. If the captain 
took it into his head to go to Siam, we suppose that 
your purser would render us a bill. No, the gentle- 
man is wrong. 

R. J. Richardson, 
Alfred C. B. Fletcher." 



i8 4 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

All the passengers went ashore at Haifa in small 
boats provided by the Thomas Cook and Son tourist 
agency. They paid five shillings each. Richardson 
and I stood on the deck and bargained with the 
native boatmen. We got them bidding against one 
another. One of them finally rowed the two of us 
to land for one shilling. 

There is no railroad from Haifa to Jerusalem 
and the only means of getting to the Holy City is 
to drive to Jaffa, a distance of about seventy miles. 
From Jaffa we could go by train to Jerusalem. Rich- 
ardson and I had always made it a point to keep 
out of the hands of Thomas Cook and Son. This 
concern, which is in all parts of the world, is a great 
convenience to travellers and their rates are mod- 
erate in most cases. However, we had no time for 
them and they had no time for us. We could travel 
cheaper without their assistance. They are not in- 
terested in tramps or steerage passengers. 

Haifa was one place where we were forced into 
the hands of Thomas Cook. It was a case of go in 
one of his stages to Jaffa at ten dollars each, or 
not go at all. It would have been a source of regret 
to us for many years if we had abandoned the 
trip. The Americans were full of enthusiasm about 
it. Richardson and I caught the spirit and agreed 
to go. 

There were ten stages in the party with about 
thirty passengers from the Austrian Lloyd steamer, 
including our newly-acquired American friends. This 
little caravan left Haifa about noon. It wound its 



A CHRISTMAS IN JERUSALEM 185 

way around the base of Mount Carmel, on whose 
summit is a monastery — said to be erected over the 
cave in which Elijah sought shelter from Ahab. In 
an hour we were on the coastal plains of Palestine. 
There are no modern highways in the Holy Land. 
I don't recall seeing anything that looked like a 
road all the way from Haifa to Jaffa. We rode 
over fields, up hills and through valleys. We simply 
started in the right direction and went straight across 
the country. 

That evening we came to a small Jewish village 
called Zamarine. This settlement was nothing more 
than a dozen little houses on the top of a hill. The 
whole party put up at the Hotel Graff. The pro- 
prietor of this place knew nothing of our coming 
and hadn't prepared any food for us. We were a 
tired lot and had to go to bed hungry, with only the 
promise of a good breakfast in the morning. 

Every one was up at two o'clock to get an early 
start for the fifty-mile run into Jaffa. The good 
breakfast consisted of weak creamless coffee, unbuf- 
fered bread and a few sardines or small canned fish. 
This repast was a keen disappointment. It was an 
amusing sight to see the millionaire Chicago gas 
merchant and the California judge munching a dry 
piece of bread for a two A. M. breakfast. They 
expected more. Richardson and I took the meal as 
a matter of course. We had seen the time when 
such a menu would have been a luxury. 

We left Zamarine when it was still dark and in 
a heavy downpour of rain. This downpour con- 



1 86 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

tinued all day. The plains were soaked with water. 
When we were not pulling through the sticky mud 
of the fields we were bumping over the rocks and 
boulders of the hillsides. It was the worst stage 
trip I ever took. 

The Pentecost preacher rode in the stage with 
Richardson and myself. He prayed for the rain 
to cease. The harder he prayed the harder it rained. 
We passed the hours in religious discussions. The 
old fellow was the most rigid Puritan on earth. He 
objected to cards, dancing and the theatre. We 
asked a hundred questions to draw him out and 
amuse ourselves. 

"What chance has a man who drinks?" Richard- 
son asked the preacher. 

"None; booze is the devil in liquid form." 

"Won't you have a cigarette?" I said, offering 
him a sack of Bull Durham and papers. I insulted 
the old man. He refused to answer. 

"What do you think of Shakespeare?" inquired 
Richardson. 

"I haven't time to waste on him. The Bible is 
good enough for me." 

"Do you approve of football?" I asked. 

"No, athletics are the work of the devil." 

"This fellow is what I call a real broad-minded 
man. He's a relic of the last century. I didn't know 
that people of his sort still existed," I said to Rich- 
ardson. 

"Do you ever use the word 'damn'?" Richardson 
asked him. 



A CHRISTMAS IN JERUSALEM 187 

"No man with the spirit of Christ would ever use 
such a word. I refuse to talk to you boys any 
longer," he concluded, perceiving that we were mak- 
ing fun of him. He sat in silence the rest of the 
trip and pouted like a five-year-old child. 

The rain continued. The wagon wheels became 
heavy with mud. The horses had hard work pulling 
the heavy coaches over the roadless fields. The 
front wheels of one of the wagons sank several feet 
in the mud and the vehicle was securely anchored. 
The horses were unable to pull it out. Another team 
was hitched on. The four horses struggled with 
the stage while their drivers whipped them up. One 
horse after another fell in the slippery mud. Not 
until a third team was hitched on was the wagon 
extricated from the mud-hole. 

We came to a mad rushing stream which seemed 
impossible to ford. One of the Bedouin drivers 
stripped off his clothes and waded through to sound 
the depth and pick a way. The water came up to 
his shoulders. After a half-hour's deliberation we 
all agreed to take the chance of crossing. Our stage 
was the first to go through. The horses at first 
refused to start. The driver finally urged them 
in. The water covered their backs and only their 
heads were above the surface. The stream came 
in the bed of the high wagon which bounded back, 
and forth over the boulders on the bottom of the 
river like a rocking cradle. We landed safely. The 
second stage made the crossing. In mid-stream one 
of the horses of the third stage lost his footing and 



1 88 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

fell. He was completely submerged for a moment. 
He regained his feet and the stage landed safely 
on the other side. At last all the ten teams came 
across without mishap. The women of the party 
were a brave band in the way they tackled the cross- 
ing without a murmur. It was a treacherous stream 
and our safe passage was almost miraculous. Two 
Englishmen were drowned at this same place the next 
day. 

This was an unusual way to pass Christmas Eve. 
We continued on over ploughed fields and rocky hills. 
We forded several little streams. About nine in 
the evening the lights of Jaffa could be seen in the 
distance, and we were soon on the road which led 
into the town and at nearly midnight we arrived. 
It was a tired crowd that blew into Jaffa that night 
and I doubt if the little Kamitz Hotel ever lodged 
a sounder set of sleepers. 

The train from Jaffa to Jerusalem is an ancient 
sample of rolling stock. It winds its way through 
hillside orange groves and soft plains sprinkled with 
grazing sheep. The country about Jaffa is the only 
beautiful portion of Palestine that we saw. We 
crossed the Plain of Sharon, where the Crusaders 
fought; we passed Timnath, where Samson set fire 
to the Philistines' corn and we saw the valley of Aja- 
lon where Joshua commanded the moon to stand 
still. We arrived in the Holy City at one o'clock 
in the afternoon of Christmas Day. 

"Drive us to the American Colony," said Rich- 
ardson to a cabman. We drove outside the walls 



A CHRISTMAS IN JERUSALEM 189 

of Jerusalem and in ten minutes we were at the 
entrance of a large two-story stone building. The 
door opened and before we had a chance to say a 
word we were greeted most cordially by a middle- 
aged man. He at once recognized us as Americans 
and invited us in. 

Fifteen minutes after our arrival in Jerusalem 
Richardson and I sat down, with one hundred and 
twenty Americans, to one of the finest Christmas din- 
ners any two human beings ever ate. There was 
everything served that ever graced a Christmas table. 
Turkey, cranberry sauce, plum pudding, mince and 
pumpkin pies, nuts, raisins and candy were placed 
before us in quantities that bewildered us. Every- 
thing was so deliciously cooked that we thought we 
were in America, — or Heaven. Richardson and I 
were so hungry that we flew to this grand feast like 
two men that had never seen food before. We had 
to put on the brakes to keep from disgracing our- 
selves at the first meal. 

The free-love talk by the American Presbyterian 
missionary in Cairo was malicious gossip. This 
rumour probably originated from the fact that the 
American Colony consisted of a number of people 
who came to Jerusalem to be present at the second 
coming of Christ. They thought that this event 
was soon to take place and they concluded that mar- 
riage was not necessary. It was back in the eighties 
that a score of people from a Chicago Protestant 
Church, thinking that the second Advent was soon 
due, came to Jerusalem to be on hand for the event. 



i9o JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

P s time went on the little colony expanded and their 
p.ans became more settled. The idea of the second 
coming was given up and they intermarried in the 
usual manner. They resolved to live the life of 
the original Christians at the seat of the foundation 
of Christianity. Through the years the colony grew 
by the birth of children and additions from the out- 
side until it numbered at the time of our visit about 
one hundred and twenty people. 

There is not a finer group of people in the world. 
They are among the most hospitable we have ever 
met. Every one of them, from the several babes in 
arms to the fine old men, was an excellent type of 
American manhood and womanhood. They are 
known far and wide in the Near East and are spoken 
of everywhere in the highest terms. 

The entire colony lives as one community in a 
group of substantial stone buildings. There is a 
common purse, a common table and sitting room. 
The whole institution is thoroughly systematized and 
is very efficient. Each member of the household 
has his or her duties to perform. Some of the 
women look after the kitchen and dining room; 
others work in the bakery and a number take care of 
the bedrooms. There is a school to which all the 
children are sent for daily instruction. The men 
devote most of their time to a curio store conducted 
by the colony in the business section of Jerusalem. 
This is a well-known store and the best pictures of 
Palestine, Syria, Egypt and even India are the work 
of the photographers of the American Colony. 



A CHRISTMAS IN JERUSALEM 191 

This was the home Richardson and I found and 
where we spent two of the most interesting and en- 
joyable weeks of our lives. The hospitality of some 
people is marvellous. The kindness of the members 
of the American Colony will stay in our memories 
forever. 

Christmas afternoon Richardson and I walked to 
Bethlehem, a distance of six miles. It was bitterly 
cold and a hard wind was blowing. On leaving Jeru- 
salem we descended into the valley of Gihon. We 
saw the tomb of Rachel which was erected over 
the place of her death and which is revered by Chris- 
tians and Moslems as well as Jews. 

Bethlehem is a hillside town of eight thousand 
people. Its houses are built of stone and mud and 
are huddled close together. Its cobblestoned streets 
are narrow and steep and are the picturesque scenes 
of many small markets. We went to the Church of 
the Nativity, the most interesting place in the vil- 
lage. It is a fine building, but poorly kept. It con- 
tains four rows of marble columns, some of the 
stones of which are said to have once formed a part 
of the Temple of Jerusalem. The roof is of beams 
of rough cedar from Lebanon. The nave is the 
oldest monument of Christian architecture in the 
world — the sole remaining portion of the grand Ba- 
silica erected by the Empress Helena in 327 A. D. 
In the grotto, or chapel of the Nativity, a silver 
star in the pavement marks the spot where Christ 
was born. Fifteen silver lamps are perpetually burn- 
ing in this chapel. 



192 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

The Church of the Nativity is under the control 
of the Turkish government. The edifice has been 
turned over to the Greek Church which has the 
main altar, to the Armenians and Copts who have 
a side altar and to the Latins — as the Roman Catho- 
lics are known — who have built an addition to the 
church for their several altars. This is a unique ar- 
rangement — three churches in the same building. 
The grotto or Nativity chapel is also divided among 
them. This unity in one building has a sensible 
sound. It is only apparent unity, however. There 
were several Turkish soldiers on hand and I was 
told that they were stationed there day and night 
throughout the year. They stood within a few feet 
of the altars with their guns over their shoulders to 
see that the priests of the various churches do not 
fight and kill one another as they have done on pre- 
vious occasions. Christ came as the Prince of Peace 
— and His representatives stand fighting at His very 
birthplace ! 

That evening Richardson and I spent in the living 
room of the American Colony. These good people 
were having their Christmas tree celebration. There 
was an elaborate programme arranged which took 
place before the distribution of presents. The young 
women gave a very pretty colonial dance ; the little 
children delivered recitations and there were a num- 
ber of good vocal and instrumental selections. One 
of the old men read a portion of the Bible and ex- 
plained to the children the significance of the Christ- 
mas festival. Then the gifts were distributed. The 



A CHRISTMAS IN JERUSALEM 193 

gathering was like a huge family. The five-year-old 
girl called the white-haired man of eighty "brother" 
and he called her "sister." It was a very joyous 
occasion. 

Many people are disappointed in Jerusalem. They 
expect to find a modern city with large hotels, elec- 
tric lights, telephones and every convenience. Their 
ideals are harshly shattered when they find them- 
selves in an unsanitary, backward and poorly kept 
city. It has a population of about eighty thousand 
people made up of Jews, Bedouins and peasants 
from the countries that border on the Mediterra- 
nean. The city is thronged with lazy priests, who 
hang about the sacred spots. These shrines are 
based on tradition and many of them are so far from 
reason that they are ridiculous. The holy places 
are not kept clean, the interior decorations of the 
churches are tawdry and Turkish soldiers are sta- 
tioned in the buildings to preserve order among the 
various sects of Christians. These are not attractive 
features. 

Our Chicago gas merchant friend was one of the 
disappointed ones. He went to Jerusalem expecting 
too much. I suppose that he thought he would find 
streets of gold studded with jewels and every human 
being in it an angel or a saint. He confused the 
old Jerusalem with the new. He was a staunch 
Roman Catholic. His disappointment was so keen 
that his faith in Christianity was nearly shaken. 

The American Colony sent one of their number 
with us to act as our guide in the city. We entered 



i 9 4 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

Saint Stephen's Gate and walked along the Via Do- 
lorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This 
is a large impressive building, but all the sacred 
association is at once killed in a person's mind by the 
ridiculous and petty things under its roof. When an 
intelligent man is shown the tomb in which Adam 
is buried and where his skull was discovered he can 
do nothing but smile. Where is evolution? To 
point out a spot about six inches in diameter as the 
centre of the earth may be appropriate information 
for an ignorant peasant but it is folly to tell such 
rubbish to an educated man. If this church was 
simply over the tomb of Christ that would be suffi- 
cient, but when so many varied and silly events are 
commemorated under the same roof an enlightened 
person naturally shrinks from the whole thing. He 
is impressed by the ignorance and superstition of 
the poor pilgrims who crowd in and out of the sacred 
places by the thousands. He thinks that all these 
things may be all right for them but he with his 
knowledge has to reject them. 

Richardson and I made the rounds of the many 
sacred spots and shrines. But these were not of so 
much interest to us. The city itself, the people, 
their customs and daily round of life took up our 
attention. There are no wheeled vehicles in the 
walled city of Jerusalem. In fact there are none in 
the whole of Palestine, with the exception of a few 
cabs about the station in Jerusalem. All freight is 
carried on the backs of camels or donkeys. The 
narrow streets of the city, often roofed over like 



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A CHRISTMAS IN JERUSALEM 195 

tunnels, are sometimes an endless chain of donkeys 
carrying heavy loads of grain or other provisions. 
These thoroughfares are so narrow that we often 
had to step into the cave-like shops to let a donkey 
pass. These tunneled streets look like large cement 
water pipes. At intervals of a few yards there are 
openings or sky lights through which the sun casts 
its rays and fresh air circulates. 

The Kubbet-es-Sakhra, popularly known as the 
Mosque of Omar, is the most conspicuous building in 
Jerusalem. It was erected in the seventh century 
and is said to stand on the site of Solomon's Temple. 
Under the dome of the Mosque is the sacred rock 
upon which a thousand things have happened, if 
one believes all he hears about it. It contains a foot- 
print of Mohammed. Beneath this ordinary cobble- 
stone, the like of which Arizona has by the thou- 
sands, the waters of the Flood are supposed to roar. 
Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac here. Numer- 
ous other things happened in, on and under this 
boulder — but I didn't have time to listen to them. 

Richardson and I were hemmed in at Jerusalem. 
The sea was so rough at Jaffa that it was impos- 
sible for passengers to get to the steamers. The 
wind and the rain made an overland trip very dis- 
agreeable. These conditions delayed us a couple of 
days. We asked for our bill at the American Colony 
for our two-weeks' stay. They said we owed them 
nothing. We wouldn't hear of such a thing, and 
insisted on making a payment. They suggested that 
we make a donation, as that was the custom. Rich- 



196 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

ardson gave an amount which was the equivalent of 
seventy-five cents each a day. It was the finest board 
and room we ever received for such a price. 

Early one morning we set out with a pack mule 
and a guide to see Palestine by horseback. We were 
bound for Nazareth. 



CHAPTER XIV 

WANDERING IN THE NEAR EAST 

Palestine is the most barren, desolate and for- 
saken country — outside of a desert — that I have 
ever seen. Many people, in their religious enthusi- 
asm, work themselves into a state where they imag- 
ine that its stony hills are thickly wooded; that its 
arid valleys are spots of beauty and its dull plains 
are fertile fields. I have heard tourists indulge in 
a series of platitudes in praise of some dreary hill- 
side and vale which, in America, would not be fit 
for even post-holes. To speak in such a way about 
the Holy Land may seem sacrilegious. However, I 
would rather write the truth and run the chance of 
profaning this sacred country. 

With our pack-mule and guide Richardson and I 
slowly crawled away from Jerusalem and our horses 
picked their course over the dismal plains towards 
the north. We drew near to the little village of 
Sha'fat, the ancient Nob. Not a soul was stirring. 
The place looked like a group of deserted and de- 
crepit tombs. Bethel, the scene of many events re- 
corded in the Old Testament, stood before us on a 
hill. Every village stands on a hill, is surrounded by 
cactus and stones and is inhabited by a lot of poor 
unfortunates who have sore eyes and are filthy and 

197 



198 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

ignorant. A dozen loathsome and mangy dogs usu- 
ally received us with their sickly-sounding barks. 
The simple people congregated and shouted bakshish. 
We rode through the rubbish-ridden streets, along 
the vile-smelling alleys and out into the open again. 
We didn't stop. 

Along the road-side we saw occasional olive trees, 
two thousand years old, — if one was to believe what 
was said about them and if their appearance indi- 
cated anything. Sometimes a number of women and 
children would be gathering the fruit. In the plains 
a flock of sheep would be grazing. What they 
found to eat — unless it was the cobblestones — was 
a puzzle to me. We would pass a man on a donkey 
with his wife strutting along a few paces behind on 
foot. Or again we would be startled by actually 
seeing a live tree on the hillside. 

Our destination for the first night was Nablus, 
the ancient Shechem and at one time the capital of 
Palestine. We came to Jacob's well, one of the most 
venerated spots in the Holy Land, and in a few min- 
utes were in the town, an enterprising community of 
Jews, Moslems and a handful of Christians. Rich- 
ardson, with grim inversion, described the place as 
the town where the dogs throw stones at you and the 
boys bite you in the leg. We were met at the city's 
gates by the usual reception committee of barking 
and snapping dogs and a score of Moslem youngsters 
who greeted the vile Christians by pelting us with 
rocks. To be the recipient of a cloud of precious 
stones from v the skilful arms of youths who daily 



WANDERING IN THE NEAR EAST 199 

indulge in such a pastime was anything but comfort- 
able. One lad planted a huge board with all his 
might across the tail of my horse. This sudden and 
violent stroke, together with the hailstorm of boul- 
ders, put a streak of life into an animal which had 
been practically dead ever since I had made his ac- 
quaintance. 

We rode up to a French monastery, conducted by 
the Latin Church, and there we put up for the night. 
Richardson and I sat at the long dining table with a 
dozen monks and ate a simple but good meal and 
drank our share of wine. It was almost impossible 
to incite these old fellows to speech and our dinner 
was as silent as a religious retreat. Our bedroom 
was as well furnished and as comfortable as in an 
American home. 

We made an early start in the morning. We soon 
came to Samaria, which is now nothing but a small 
unsanitary village surrounded by a cactus hedge and 
half in ruins. We reached the summit of a hill and, 
before us, stretched the Plain of Esdraelon, and the 
mountains of Tabor and Carmel stood in the distance 
like huge monuments. There was nothing beautiful 
about the scene. 

Riding along quietly we were startled by the sud- 
den appearance over a hill of two Bedouins on horse- 
back. These men, with their head-dress of white 
cloth and a double coil of goat's hair, their hard 
faces and guns over their shoulders, were a treacher- 
ous-looking pair. They stared at us, exchanged a 
few words with our guide and passed on. Many a 



200 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

Christian has been robbed and killed by Bedouins 
in the vicinity of the River Jordan. Our guide must 
have told these dangerous rascals that we were poor 
men, for we were never disturbed. 

Our stopping place for the second night was a 
small settlement called Jenin. We obtained accom- 
modations in a tiny hotel. On leaving we had a row 
with the proprietor who demanded more money than 
he had agreed upon the evening before. We refused 
to pay and he followed us for a mile out of the town, 
wrangling with us over the matter. 

We spent the morning crawling across the Plain 
of Esdraelon and, about noon, began ascending the 
hill to Nazareth. It was a long winding climb over 
a road which had never seen a grader. Nazareth is 
situated on a sort of plateau. It is a town of about 
ten thousand people and has several substantial 
school buildings and hospitals erected by various 
churches. Here are found many places venerated 
for their Biblical associations. The Church of the 
Annunciation is supposed to be erected on the site of 
Mary's house and the scene of the annunciation. In 
the Moslem quarter of the town the Latin Church 
has possession of the "Workshop of Joseph" and the 
"Table of Christ" upon which he dined with his 
disciples before and after the resurrection. The 
Mount of Precipitation, where the people sought to 
cast Christ down, is plainly visible from Nazareth 
and on its summit is a Latin church. 

We left Nazareth at four o'clock in the morning. 
We recrossed the Plain of Esdraelon and arrived at 




z 

o 

H 
at 
< 
H 

a! 





WANDERING IN THE NEAR EAST 201 

Afuleh where we missed our train — the only one that 
day — for Damascus. Turkish trains run on peculiar 
schedules. This train is supposed to leave Haifa for 
Damascus each day at sunrise. Occasionally the 
conductor — or some one — decides to start an hour 
or more earlier. This is done without any notice 
to the public. Such was evidently the case on the 
morning we tried to catch the train, for we arrived 
on time at Afuleh only to find that we were too late. 

Our guide was dismissed and returned to Jerusa- 
lem with the two horses and pack-mule. It looked 
as though we were doomed to spend a day and a 
night at Afuleh, a station and a native shop — and 
nothing more. A Syrian lace merchant and a young 
New York Jew, a commercial traveller, were also 
left behind. We telegraphed the director of the rail- 
road and obtained his permission to go by freight 
train to Damascus. We declined this route, however, 
when the freight conductor consigned us to an open 
car exposed to a steady downpour of rain. 

We spent the day walking the ties in front of the 
station and went to Haifa for the night on the train 
from Damascus late in the afternoon. We had 
landed in Haifa when we first arrived in Palestine, 
and our second coming completed a small circuit. 
The next day we took the train that leaves at sunrise 
for Damascus. The only thing a Turkish train has 
in the way of accommodation is plenty of time. It 
hasn't a single convenience I can think of. I actu- 
ally saw one train stop to allow two ducks to cross 
the track. One conductor threatened to beat me up 



202 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

because I made fun of his little engine and cars by 
running backwards beside his train and winning the 
race into the station. 

The Sea of Galilee is a glassy, stagnant-looking 
body of water, and when we saw it it was as calm 
as a plate of soup. It was so peaceful that one could 
hardly realize that it was capable of the storms de- 
scribed in the Bible. I was told that these storms 
take place on it to-day. Tiberias, the most vermin- 
ridden settlement in the world, stands on its shores. 
The River Jordan, which looks like a Southern Cali- 
fornia "wash" in winter, has its source in the sea. 
Richardson and I walked down to the banks of this 
mad-rushing little stream and filled a bottle with a 
sample of its water. This fluid looks and tastes like 
that of any water company in America. I have done 
nothing but give portions of my sample away ever 
since. 

Beyond the Jordan the railroad crosses a vast 
plain which produces nothing but rocks. I don't 
think I ever saw so many boulders before. I didn't 
see a suggestion of vegetation or a sign of life in the 
entire distance from the Jordan to Damascus. We 
travelled across this weary expanse of nothing with a 
Greek priest, who spoke English, and a female mis- 
sionary of the Church of England who had spent 
many years of her life converting natives in a village 
east of the Jordan. 

Damascus is the oldest city in the world. It is the 
city in which Saint Paul became a Christian. It is 
larger than Pittsburgh, having over half a million 



WANDERING IN THE NEAR EAST 203 

inhabitants. It is famous for its picturesque mar- 
kets and bazaars, which are the focal point for all 
the products of the interior of Syria. 

Richardson and I took in the sights of this city 
without a guide, as was our custom. The Reverend 
Mr. Hanamar, of the English Church, told us how 
to get about most profitably. He is an authority on 
the Holy Land and Syria and had the task of revising 
Thomas Cook and Son's Handbook on Palestine and 
Syria. We walked the length of the "Street Called 
Straight." If it were not for the fact that every one 
who sees this street makes the same remark, I would 
here state that it is not straight. However, it is 
an interesting thoroughfare. With its wooden roof, 
its hundreds of picturesque shops and its hordes of 
humanity it is unique among the streets of the world. 

The Great Mosque, which at one time was a Chris- 
tian Church, is said to contain the head of Saint John 
the Baptist. I understand that a half dozen churches 
throughout Europe also claim this distinction. At 
any rate, it is interesting to note — and strange to 
think — that the Moslems have allowed the following 
inscription on the walls of the Great Mosque to re- 
main: "Thy Kingdom, O Christ, is a kingdom of 
all ages, and Thy dominion lasts throughout all gen- 
erations." 

Our train from Damascus to Beirut travelled at 
the rate of six miles an hour. A man can nearly beat 
this walking. But out of justice to this train I should 
say that in a distance of eighty miles we had to rise 
three thousand feet to the ridge of the Lebanon 



2o 4 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

Mountains. From the summit of these mountains a 
beautiful picture was suddenly spread before us. 
Directly beneath us was Beirut — its houses crowded 
in among the jungle of trees — and stretching out be- 
yond to the horizon was the expanse of the blue and 
white-capped Mediterranean. Bobbing up and down 
on the waves was a small steamer flying the Stars 
and Stripes. It was the first American flag Richard- 
son and I had seen since we left Manila. We de- 
cided to investigate it on our arrival in Beirut. 

We were the guests of Professor and Mrs. Brown, 
who were connected with the Syrian Protestant Col- 
lege, one of the leading institutions of learning in 
the Near East. Beirut is a great educational centre, 
having forty schools for boys and twenty-five for 
girls. 

The Syrian lace merchant, whom we met at Afuleh 
while waiting for our train, entertained us at dinner. 
After the meal we drank some muddy-looking Turk- 
ish coffee with an inch of sediment in the bottom 
of the cup, and smoked a narghile, or hubble-bubble 
pipe. From our Syrian friend we learned that the 
little steamer with the American flag was the Vir- 
ginia of the Archipelago-American Steamship Com- 
pany. This concern was incorporated under the laws 
of the United States and carried the Stars and 
Stripes, although its capital and management were 
largely Greek. This arrangement was to serve as a 
means of protection against Turkey. 

Richardson and I concluded that here was our 
chance for a free ride, We would go to the steam- 



WANDERING IN THE NEAR EAST 205 

ship company's office, announce that we were Ameri- 
cans, act important and demand passage to Constan- 
tinople. 

"When does the Virginia leave for Constanti- 
nople?" I asked a man in the company's office after 
introducing Richardson and myself. 

"In a few days, as soon as her cargo is loaded. 
She doesn't run on any schedule," was his reply. 

- "Mr. Richardson and I are studying conditions in 
Syria for an American newspaper syndicate and we 
want to get passage on your boat to Constantinople. 
We are paying special attention to the commerce and 
shipping of this section of the world and we wish to 
make a favourable report. We noticed that your 
steamer flies the American flag." There had been 
considerable criticism of the policy of permitting 
foreign concerns such as the Archipelago-American 
Steamship Company to fly American colours on 
their ships. The officials of this company were aware 
of this and when we gave the newspaper talk they 
imagined that we might make it a point to use their 
company as an example in our write-ups. 

"But the Virginia is only a freight boat. She hasn't 
any accommodations for passengers. But " 

"We can put up with the crew," interrupted Rich- 
ardson. "In fact we would rather travel in that way. 
We can get the sailor's point of view." 

"Can you drop in again this afternoon? I will 
see what I can do," the man concluded after a mo- 
ment's reflection. 

"Rich, if we don't land that boat to Constant!- 



206 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

nople I will walk there," I said, as we sauntered 
along the waterfront from the steamship office. 

Two nights later we were nicely settled in a state- 
room on the Virginia adjoining the captain's. It was 
one of the most comfortable cabins we had been in. 
Across the way was a young Greek governess, a 
friend of the skipper's. She was also getting a free 
ride to Constantinople. 

The scheduled time for the regular passenger 
steamers from Beirut to Constantinople is three days. 
The little Virginia see-sawed up and down the coast 
of Asia Minor, discharging and taking on freight, 
for two weeks. Richardson and I didn't care if it 
took six months for the journey or if she went to 
South America for a cargo. 

We anchored off the shore of Tripoli but were un- 
able to land on account of the city's being under quar- 
antine for cholera. The little steamer continued on 
to Alexandretta. Richardson and I went ashore here 
and wandered in and out among the markets. It is 
a town of thirty thousand people and possesses noth- 
ing of extraordinary interest. The Virginia received 
orders to go to Bayas, a small port to the north, for 
several thousand boxes of oranges to be brought to 
Alexandretta. 

Morning found us off the coast of Bayas. During 
the day a number of Greeks with their wives and 
daughters came on board. They were orange grow- 
ers of Syria. Their presence meant jam for break- 
fast, a delicacy we didn't otherwise get. Richardson 
nearly disgraced America by the amount he ate. 



WANDERING IN THE NEAR EAST 207 

The steamer returned to Alexandretta that evening 
and discharged her cargo of fruit. 

Mersina, a city of about fifty thousand people, 
was the next place on our itinerary. The night's trip 
proved a rough one. A strong wind stirred up a 
very heavy sea. The little boat was tossed about as 
though it had no weight. The waves broke over the 
ship and water mysteriously came in our cabin in 
spite of the fact that the port-holes were securely 
closed. It was one of the wettest nights of my life. 
It seemed as though some one was emptying a tub 
of water in our room every minute. Everything was 
literally swimming in water. It was foot deep in 
our stateroom in the morning. Richardson and I 
waded out of the cabin as wet as two oysters and 
dressed in the saloon. 

The night had been a wet one and a long one to 
us. But to the poor Greek governess in the adjoin- 
ing stateroom it was one of continual distress. The 
gruesome and appalling shrieks and groans which 
emanated from this unfortunate creature indicated 
that she was in the last stages of sea-sickness. I have 
seen thousands of people suffering with this ailment 
but I never heard one perform as this young Greek 
did. All night she gasped for breath, coughed and 
choked. She gave vent to the most heart-rending 
whoops which penetrated to all parts of the ship. 
We thought the poor girl would strangle to death. 

During the following night the steamer put into 
Rhodes. Much to our regret we were off before 
morning and there was no opportunity to land. A 



208 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

short stop was made at Khios, a small town on an 
island of the same name off the coast of Asia Minor. 

We steamed into the beautiful bay of Smyrna with 
the city clinging snugly to a hundred hills clothed in 
a garment of evergreen. Every section of the world 
seems to have its Paris, and Smyrna has this distinc- 
tion for the Near East. There are many French 
people among its half million inhabitants and the 
city is gay with cafes, theatres and places of amuse- 
ment. We only had a short time to go about while 
the steamer discharged a small consignment of 
freight. 

Two hundred Turks were driven up the gangway 
to go as deck passengers to Dedeagatch, a little sea- 
port in Southern Bulgaria. It was a motley crowd 
of human freight that huddled in bunches on the 
forward deck. The men with red fezzes or soiled 
turbans and unkempt straggly beards were an un- 
attractive lot. The women with their black dresses 
covering shapeless figures and with their veiled faces 
didn't look like human beings. They had the ap- 
pearance of walking pyramids. 

As Richardson and I wandered about the deck to 
look them over, the women would turn their faces 
or quickly veil themselves. It was immodest to ex- 
pose this part of their anatomy to a man and espe- 
cially to a foreigner. What a strange thing custom 
is ! The women of America go clothed to the limit 
except in the ballroom, on the stage or in the water. 
The women of Japan are indifferent as to when or 
where they disrobe. The women of Turkey hide 



WANDERING IN THE NEAR EAST 209 

their faces on the approach of man. I was told that 
when Milady of Turkey is caught unaware in the 
bath she makes haste to cover only her face. Some 
of the faces I chanced to see look better behind their 
black curtains. It might be wise to introduce such 
facial disguises in America. I know instances where 
they would serve a laudable purpose. 

Life on the Virginia was getting monotonous. 
The food had taken a slump from its fairly good 
beginning. We had little to do and time began to 
drag. We had read all the books on board. The 
steamer didn't remain at the various ports long 
enough for us to acquaint ourselves with the towns 
and cities — still less with the commerce and shipping 
interests of the country. We looked forward to 
Constantinople and some diversity. 

We only remained at Dedeagatch a sufficient time 
to dump the human cargo of Turks, and then set 
out for Constantinople. We sailed through the 
Hellespont, passed the small town of Dardanelles, 
steamed across the Sea of Marmora and entered the 
Bosporus. 



CHAPTER XV 

GREECE AND ROME FROM A THIRD-CLASS COACH 

Two weeks of the Greek freighter were enough, 
and Richardson and I rejoiced to see the picturesque 
sky-line of Constantinople come into view. We made 
short work of getting ashore as soon as the anchor 
was dropped and in a few minutes were on a local 
steamer going up the Bosporus on our way to Rob- 
erts College, the famous American institution of the 
Near East, where we were to be the guests of 
friends of Richardson's. Here we received a real 
welcome and once more began living the civilized 
life — as true Americans can when given a chance. 

It had now been many months since we had left 
Manila and a job; and our exchequers, in spite of 
the economical methods of travel we had pursued, 
were being slowly depleted. However, as near as 
can be recalled, we had about two hundred and fifty 
dollars each and, although this sum is a mere joke 
when compared with the distance we were from 
home, still a man is not broke until he is broke. We 
concluded that if it was possible we would get jobs 
in Constantinople and at least break even financially 
during our stay there. 

Looking for work in Europe is a very different 
thing from such a quest in the Orient. Indeed, we 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 211 

soon found that as a whole travel in Europe was 
far different and in many ways less interesting than 
in the Far East. Europe is the beaten path where 
the inhabitants of each country are organized and 
lie in wait to separate the American tourist from his 
coin. The paths are all cut and dried and every- 
thing is carried on along the lines of the personally- 
conducted sightseeing tours. Jobs are scarce, and 
the few obtainable pay very small wages. The 
thrifty native can do the work as well as, and often- 
times better than, the transient American. The con- 
ventional character of European travel strips this 
pastime of two-thirds of its charm. Experiences, 
which one is daily encountering in the more or less 
primitive countries of the Orient, are not to be found 
in Europe. Civilization, with its comforts and con- 
veniences, eliminates the possibilities of adventure 
and the traveller, whether rich or poor, usually 
deteriorates into a bored and bleary-eyed sightseeing 
machine. 

After a couple of days' rest we set out to find jobs. 
We canvassed Stamboul, Galata, Pera and Scutari, 
the four sections of Constantinople, and called on the 
American Consul, several large foreign mercantile 
houses, and a number of educational institutions. 
In nearly every instance we were dismissed with a 
laugh. Roberts College came to our rescue. Rich- 
ardson received a position, if it could be elevated to 
such dignity by the appellation, which consisted of 
doing electric wiring in one of the college buildings 
at two dollars a day. Out of this he was to board 



212 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

and room himself. The best I could do was to be- 
come assistant instructor in physical culture in the 
gymnasium at thirty-five dollars a month and from 
this princely sum I was to pay for my board and 
clothe and shelter myself — in addition to providing 
for the many and sundry wants of an American in 
a strange land. 

Richardson decided to accept and I to reject the 
respective posts. I concluded that I would rather 
starve moving than while stationary. We agreed to 
separate — Richardson to remain in Constantinople 
for a couple of months and I to continue on alone, — 
to meet later in London. Before our separation we 
made a systematic and tourist-like conquest of beau- 
tiful Constantinople. We went up the Bosporus and 
travelled in circles on the Black Sea. We explored 
the interesting but backward city itself. We made 
our way among the quaint bazaars and finally came 
to the Mosque of San Sophia. Here I took leave 
of Richardson and we planned to meet in London in 
a few months to cross the Atlantic to America to- 
gether. 

I did not have any itinerary. My plan was simply 
to go through Europe. I decided to go from Con- 
stantinople to Greece. The first-class fare to Athens 
was eighty francs. At this rate my supply of coin 
would not last long. I knew I could beat that. I 
visited several steamship offices along the waterfront 
in search of cheap passage. 

Accompanied by a Greek, as an interpreter, I en- 
tered a dingy little office. 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 213 

"When does the next boat leave for Piraeus?" I 
inquired of a moon-faced man in uniform behind 
a counter. 

"To-morrow morning at nine o'clock," was the 
reply by way of the interpreter. 

"What is the fare?" I asked. 

"Thirty francs," was the response. 

"That's too much," I said, starting to walk away. 

"What will you give?" asked the steamship com- 
pany official. 

"Five francs," I uttered, smothering a smile at 
the smallness of the amount. 

"All right," agreed the officer — and I bought my 
ticket at once. I was so astonished that I could 
hardly dig up the money fast enough. As I left the 
little office I concluded that my luck had not left me 
on setting, foot in Europe. I shipped my suitcase 
direct to England, deciding to travel with only a 
small hand bag. 

As my boat did not leave until morning, I now 
had the evening in which to stir up some excitement. 
I wandered along the streets of Constantinople 
ready to welcome any one or anything that came 
my way. Presently a sign "American Bar" greeted 
my eyes and in I immediately went, thinking that 
there the English or American language would be 
spoken and I might find a companion of some sort. 
I found that French was the only means of com- 
munication. Shortly, however, a man entered the 
place who knew a little English. 



2i 4 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

"Where can I find a bit of excitement this eve- 
ning?" I asked. 

"There is nothing going on to-night except at the 
Paris Cafe," replied the man. 

"What takes place there?" 

"Music, theatre, pretty women and plenty to eat 
and drink." 

"Where is this cafe and how do I get there?" I 
asked, determined to investigate the establish- 
ment. 

"The proprietor will be here in a moment and you 
can go with him." 

In a few minutes a sleek-looking Frenchman ar- 
rived and was introduced, and in a second I was off 
with him in a closed carriage for the Paris Cafe. 
We rode on for an hour. It was nine o'clock in the 
evening. The Frenchman didn't speak a word of 
English. I began to think that I was up against a 
knock-down and drag-out game. I decided to stick, 
however, and see what this Paris Cafe was. We 
rode on. Finally, the carriage came to a stop and we 
alighted in front of a small house, brightly illumi- 
nated, from which was emanating the maudlin laugh- 
ter of male and female voices. There was not 
another house to be seen. We might have been in 
the midst of an American prairie from the appear- 
ance of the darkened landscape. My French com- 
panion and I entered the house. I reluctantly paid 
the equivalent of one dollar admittance. On enter- 
ing, the Frenchman was lost in the crowd and I was 
left to find my own way. An inebriated gathering of 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 215 

French life greeted my vision. I seated myself at a 
table in one end of the large room, ordered a drink 
and in a careless manner took in what was about me. 
A dozen or more tables with six or eight people at 
each occupied half of the hall, a highly-polished floor 
for dancing took up the other half and at one end 
was a stage on which a succession of scantily-clad 
French women of tender age executed a series of 
sensuous dances while the maudlin crowd cheered 
and applauded. 

I sat at my table unnoticed for fully an hour. At 
last, an ill-shapen feminine individual advanced and, 
in broken English supplemented with portions of 
French, asked me to join her crowd in an adjacent 
room in some refreshments. I accepted. I consid- 
ered that I was not a fool and could take care of 
myself, and decided that I would investigate the place 
to the limit. I joined this select party of eight. 
Liquid began to flow freely and all were very solici- 
tous that I should drink my fill. Being suspicious of 
the whole proceeding I decided to drink nothing. I 
had fears of being drugged, robbed and thrown out 
in an alley to spend the night. My fears were well 
founded. The gang became more and more intoxi- 
cated. They reached the point where they evidently 
thought that I was ripe to pluck, and two of them 
ventured to separate me from my money. It would 
have been a fruitless effort, if it had been allowed to 
proceed to its consummation, for I had left all my 
coin, with the exception of a small amount, in my 
hand bag at the steamship office. My assailants 



216 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

plunged towards me like huge tigers. They were so 
drunk that they were helpless. I handled them like 
a pair of twin punching bags and left the room and 
the Paris Cafe with one man stretched out so flat 
that he looked like an inlaid design on the floor, 
while his co-partner was so completely pasted against 
the side of the room as to be hardly distinguishable 
from a figure on the wall paper. After this clean-up 
I walked out of the joint, ordered a hack, drove 
to town, put up at a little Greek hotel and had a 
good night's sleep. 

In the morning I boarded the Greek steamer 
I2MHNH, My bunk consisted of nothing more 
than a niche in the side of the ship — similar bunks 
being occupied by a score of Greeks — and my food 
was a supply of tinned goods I had purchased in 
Constantinople. The next day at sunrise we were off 
the shore of the Dardanelles, and here we spent most 
of the morning waiting for the sea to subside in order 
to land a herd of cattle and a small flock of unhealthy- 
looking sheep. The sea continued to rage and it was 
not long before our common sleeping compartment 
presented a most distressing scene, with a Greek 
chorus which so affected me that I nearly joined the 
regurgitating throng myself. 

Early the third day the Greek ship arrived at Pi- 
raeus, the port of Athens, and without stopping I 
betook myself by electric car to the capital. I went 
directly to the "American School of Classical 
Studies" where I presented a letter of introduction 
to Dr. Clyde Phaar. This gentleman — for he 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 217 

surely was one— conducted me about the city of 
Athens and I spent two most interesting days visiting 
the Acropolis, the Olympicion, the Theatre of 
Dionysis and many other ancient structures. 

On leaving Dr. Phaar I returned to my old level 
and picked up a couple of Greek peasants who led 
me to their various haunts. One evening, after a 
seven-cent meal (consisting of stewed liver, kidney 
and other entrails) in the most unsanitary restaurant 
I ever saw, I left Athens for Patras, laden with 
many introductory letters from my Athenian friends 
to Grecian fruit vendors and candy fabricants in New 
York City. 

After travelling all day, with an hour's delay at 
Corinth, due to a defective engine — which time I 
utilized by sight-seeing — I arrived at Patras in the 
evening. I was besieged by an army of hotel men as 
I was leaving the station and nearly landed in jail, 
instead of an hotel, for beating up an especially per- 
sistent hawker. However, I managed to find an 
hotel and I spread myself to the extent of eating a 
first-class dinner, the first food for the day. With 
this meal safely placed away I strolled up the street. 
I was ambling aimlessly along; my thoughts had 
drifted to America, when I was attracted by a Greek 
of about thirty years, who called to me from across 
the street, addressing me as "Charlie." As there 
was nothing on the calendar, I responded to my new 
name and crossed over to see what the native wanted. 

"Where are you going, Charlie?" he asked. 

"No place," answered Charlie. 



218 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

"Come along with me then," said the Greek in 
good English. 

"Where are you going?" I inquired, preferring to 
know something of my destination. 

"To call on some of my relatives and friends." 
My boat for Brindisi did not leave until midnight 
and I had plenty of time to learn something. 

We strolled along a winding road lined on each 
side with little native houses. Our first call was on 
the Greek's aged aunt, a peasant woman, whose hus- 
band had been killed, a few days before, in a duel 
with a neighbour. The house in which this simple 
and grief-stricken woman lived was a low thatch- 
roofed adobe structure with the earth for its floors. 
It was a near-to-nature residence and I was impressed 
by its almost spotless cleanliness and neatness. We 
remained in this little home for nearly an hour while 
the poor woman poured out her troubles to her 
nephew, who later informed me that he had assumed 
the responsibility of her support since her husband's 
death. We next called on the Greek's older sister. 
This Grecian peasant home was also an interesting 
place and was as immaculate as its predecessor. 
With this second visit completed, my companion 
evidently had performed all his obligations and he 
now felt at liberty to call on some of his girls. Our 
last visit was at the home of a travelling butcher, 
who saunters about the town pushing a one-wheeled 
vehicle, resembling a wheelbarrow, laden with car- 
casses of cows and sheep, from which he hacks off a 
chunk whenever he finds a customer. The walls of 




c 
U 



< 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 219 

this modest mud house were literally plastered with 
calendars, newspaper pictures and display advertise- 
ments. It was inhabited by a most interesting set 
of human beings. There was the mother with her 
three youngest huddling around her skirt like little 
chicks around the proud old hen; there were twin 
girls of about twelve years, who spent their energies 
giggling at the idiosyncrasies of the American guest 
and there were two young women of some twenty- 
one summers. There was also a boy of about sixteen 
and from the accounts of his mother he must have 
been the tough lad of the neighbourhood. 

The two young ladies, whose names were Miss 
Vaseleki Caetina and Miss Caraperpara Caetina, 
were bright, healthy creatures in spite of the fact 
that they worked fourteen hours a day, one in a 
stocking factory and the other as a dressmaker. 

My visit was considered a great distinction and my 
presence was soon noised about the neighbourhood 
and an endless file of proud mothers came to exhibit 
their offsprings to me as I handed out compliments 
and passed comments on them by means of my Greek 
companion. The Misses Caetani became so infatu- 
ated with the sample American, in spite of my travel- 
worn and trampish appearance, that they insisted on 
their mother's inviting me to dinner. What they 
would have done to a regular American one can 
only surmise. I was enjoying the affair to the limit 
of my capacity and if I had been invited to a suicide 
I would have accepted. 

The meal was served in the most informal way in 



220 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

what might be termed the parlour. Informal is 
hardly the word. Jam came straight from the jar to 
the eater's mouth. One spoon did service for the 
entire gathering, each one using it in turn without any 
cleansing process intervening. Still having some 
ideas of hygiene in spite of my unsanitary experi- 
ences I considered myself fortunate in being the 
guest and, therefore, getting the first fling at the 
much-worked spoon. Greek wine was poured out in 
lavish quantites and, not being acquainted with the 
inebriating efficiency of this liquid, I partook of it 
cautiously. Strips of dried meat, squares of bread 
and walnuts completed the repast. 

The evening was an entertaining one and I took 
my leave while the young Grecian maidens danced 
with joy as I wrote down their names and promised 
I would drop them post cards from Italy. This 
promise I fulfilled. 

I now turned my thoughts towards Italy. A much- 
travelled man once advised me that if I had but six 
months in which to tour Europe to spend four of 
them in Italy. Although I do not agree with his 
ratio, I do thoroughly believe that four months is 
much too short a time to even get a start in this 
wonderful land, rich in everything that interests an 
intelligent human being. But lack of funds haunted 
me with the necessity for speed and, much as I re- 
gretted it, I had to keep moving on. 

A sea trip of two nights and one day brought me 
to Brindisi. I took the first train to Naples where I 
arrived after a delightful route through green fields, 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 221 

prosperous farms and orchards and a country radiant 
with the bloom of youth, for it was the early spring- 
time. I put up at a small rooming house with eating 
arrangements connected, which I discovered near the 
station. 

Italy proved to be a land of little adventure. The 
traveller has nothing to do but go sight-seeing and 
about the only way in which to encounter an unusual 
experience would be to go out in the street and de- 
liberately insult some one. Not having any desire 
to do this I became a simple and ordinary tourist, 
and the following sample from my diary concerning 
my activities in Naples very clearly illustrates this: 

"Saturday: — I nearly walked my crimson head off 
to-day. Armed with a Baedeker, I went after Naples 
with the persistence and energy of an American book 
agent. I managed to get about very satisfactorily 
without a guide or even the disbursing of a single tip. 

"In the morning early, after carefully studying the 
Baedeker map, I went to the Villa Nazionale, a pub- 
lic garden next the sea, with many trees and marble 
statues. The 'fashionable' world flit to and fro in 
their automobiles on the broad Via Caracciolo along 
the water, while the scum and tramps, like myself, 
get out of their way in the best manner we can or 
are run down and trampled into eternity. In the 
Villa Nazionale is the famous Aquarium, which I 
will visit to-morrow — as on Sundays the admission is 
one franc instead of two. 

"From this park I went to the English church, a 
fine large building, with a tasteful interior, quite in 



222 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

contrast to the churches of the Papal obedience which 
I have seen. I wandered through busy, noisy streets, 
— the inhabitants of Naples are the noisiest people 
I think I ever heard — and came to the large church 
of San Francesco di Paola — a modern edifice — hav- 
ing been constructed in 1 8 17-31. In the interior are 
superb marble columns, modern statues and pictures 
and a high altar inlaid with jasper. It impressed me 
more favourably than other churches of Naples be- 
cause time had not filled it with a lot of gaudy fix- 
tures. 

"Passing the Palazzo Reale and the Theatre of 
Carlo, I went in the Galleria Umberto Primo, a beau- 
tiful arcade containing many high-class shops. I 
walked by the Municipio, a large square structure 
used for city offices, as its name suggests, and came 
into the Via Roma or Toledo, the main street of 
Naples. Jostling along this thoroughfare for awhile, 
I turned off on a side street and spent some little 
time in the Jesuit church of Gesu Nuovo. Near-by 
I visited the Church of Santa Chiara, built in the 
fourteenth century and richly but tastelessly deco- 
rated. It contains numerous altars and many paint- 
ings, and the ceiling is a solid mass of gilding. 
Referring to the map in Baedeker I directed my 
course to the Church of San Domenico Maggiore, 
erected in 1289 and restored several times. My 
guide book states that some of the great families 
(great because of inherited wealth, I suppose!) of 
Naples have their chapels here. 

"I next found my way in some mysterious manner 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 223 

through the narrow foul-smelling alleys of the slums 
to the Cathedral of San Gennaro. This church is in 
the French-Gothic style and is not especially attrac- 
tive. It contains a shrine called the Chapel of Saint 
Januarius. In the tabernacle of the chief altar of 
this chapel there are two vessels containing the blood 
of Saint Januarius, Bishop of Benevento, who suf- 
fered martyrdom in the fourth century. The lique- 
faction of the blood, which, according to the legend, 
took place for the first time when the body was 
brought to Naples, occurs three times a year on sev- 
eral successive days. On the occasion of this lique- 
faction thousands of the faithful make pilgrimages 
to this shrine for prayers and offerings, for by means 
of this liquefying a forecast can be made of the pros- 
perity of the land. 

"From the Cathedral I went to the Castel Capu- 
ano, once the residence of the Hohenstaufen, later of 
the Angevin kings and, since 1540, the seat of the 
law-courts. Close by is the Porta Capuano, one of 
the finest existing Renaissance gateways. 

"In the afternoon I walked along the Via X ossa » 
a winding street which ascends the hill behind Naples 
and which passes many beautiful buildings and from 
which good views of the city and bay of Naples may 
be had. I took a cable car lift and went up to and 
around the Castel Sant' Elmo, fortified with huge 
walls and now used as a military prison. Near this 
castle I visited the Church of San Martino. This 
church seems to be deserted so far as religious pur- 
poses are concerned, and has been turned into a 



224 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

money-making institution. In the Tesoro, a room 
beyond a sacristy, is a 'DESCENT FROM THE 
QROSS' by Ribera and on the ceiling 'JUDITH' 
by Luca Giordana — who is said to have painted it in 
forty-eight hours, when in his seventy-second year. 
This sounds like a California fish story. 

"Adjoining the church is the museum, which con- 
tains many sculptures, paintings and ecclesiastical 
vestments. From the Belvedere, a spacious balcony, 
is an excellent view of the city and of Vesuvius 
beyond, 

"Sunday: — I spent two hours this morning (ad- 
mission free on Sundays) in the Museo Nazionale. 
It contains a fine collection of marble and bronze 
sculptures, most of them from Herculaneum and a 
few from Pompeii — the bronze exhibition consisting 
mostly of household utensils and affording an admir- 
able insight into the domestic life of antiquity. The 
museum also contains a gallery with many beautiful 
and masterly pictures and also an unrivalled collec- 
tion of vases. 

"Later in the day I visited the Aquarium, which 
was very interesting, although not so large as the 
one in Honolulu. The sea life it contains is of a 
different species, being from other waters, but there 
are not so many varieties as in Hawaii. 

"The shops, streets, and tenement sections of 
Naples are unique. Noise, congestion and colour are 
their most predominant features. Every man who is 
not a priest is engaged in ravenously devouring a 
greasy string of macaroni, while the women are 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 225 

shouting inhuman shrieks in the effort to sell a bottle 
of red wine." 

The feeling of loneliness, which seizes us all at 
one time or another, is probably more acute, when 
— travelling alone — one enters a large city in a for- 
eign land where he doesn't understand the language 
and doesn't know a single soul. Especially is this 
the case when the traveller is making his way on a 
sum which is so small that rigid economy has to be 
practised every minute of the day. 

Never was I more impressed with this feeling of 
loneliness than when I arrived in Rome at midnight. 
It is a simple thing for the opulent traveller to alight 
from his first-class train and take a carriage to the 
leading hotel, but it is a very different matter for the 
lone and coin-depleted tramp to find board and lodg- 
ing commensurate with his meagre funds and, espe- 
cially so, during the middle of the night. The great- 
ness of Rome, its magnificent history and its position 
in the world to-day made me feel as insignificant as 
when one gazes into the heavens on a moonless night 
and beholds the stars. I swung off a third-class 
coach, made my way through the crowds in the sta- 
tion, elbowed the hotel hawkers aside and reached a 
street corner, where I stood for a moment's reflec- 
tion. I might as well have been in a jungle so far as 
knowing where to go next. I finally set out in search 
of an hotel, and for two hours I hunted in vain. I 
inquired for a room at every establishment over the 
door of which was printed the word "portier." My 
hotel in Naples had displayed this sign and I con- 



226 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

eluded that all places with such a label were hotels. 
Working under this delusion I canvassed every build- 
ing which bore the inscription. No one would take 
me in and I couldn't make any one understand me. 
I began to wonder if there was something about my 
appearance which made me an outcast and caused the 
portiers to regard me with suspicion. Some of the 
supposed hotel-keepers laughed at me, others nearly 
threw me out, while still others seemed to regard me 
with pity. I became discouraged. It was now two 
o'clock in the morning. Was I to pace streets all 
night, luggage in hand, in search of a place to sleep? 
Tired and disgusted I decided to retire in the first 
vacant lot I came to, if Rome had such things. Pres- 
ently I came across a large open space which ap- 
peared in the darkness to be some sort of an ancient 
excavation or ruin. This was good enough, I 
thought, and I scrambled down the decomposed steps 
and in a few minutes was sound asleep in a secluded 
corner of this deserted square. 

I awakened early to recognize that my bedroom 
was no less than the Roman Forum. A smile rippled 
over my unshaven face and my thoughts were shifted 
years back to the time when I studied in school of the 
ruined Roman Forum and how at that time I little 
realized that the day was coming when I would wake 
up, like a tramp, and find myself surrounded by its 
huge and stately old columns. 

I explored the venerable place at once and, al- 
though it was six o'clock in the morning and I had 
not eaten, I opened my Baedeker and spent two hours 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 227 

reading and becoming familiar with this ancient seat 
of oratory and modern domicile for hoboes. 

Later in the day I found a modest little hotel 
whose proprietor spoke English quite fluently. He 
explained to me that the reason I was unable to get 
a room on the preceding night was that I probably 
did not inquire at a single hotel. He informed me 
that many buildings in Rome had a porter or care- 
taker and usually had the sign "portier" over the 
door. I had been trying, in the early hours of the 
morning, to force myself into wholesale houses, de- 
partment stores, private homes and what not. In 
each instance I had, unknowingly, applied to the 
watchman whose duty it was to keep off all intruders 
and burglars. It is a wonder that I wasn't shot 
down. 

Probably the first point to which the traveller in 
Rome directs his steps is Saint Peter's and I was no 
exception. I took a car to this wonderful church 
and spent the entire day drinking in its marvels. 
From the lantern on the dome (where I poked my 
crimson head — five hundred and eighty-three feet 
above the ground — and took in the amazing pano- 
rama of the Eternal City) to the main floor, I left 
little unseen. I was quite content to be a spectator 
and took no active part in the customary devotions 
of the average pilgrim. As I watched the long line 
of the faithful file by the large bronze statue of Saint 
Peter and osculate his big toe — which has been worn 
down, through the centuries, nearly half an inch by 
this unsanitary process — I decided to give these poor 



228 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

peasants a lesson in hygiene, but the play was taken 
away from me by a high dignitary of the Church. 
A well-fed clean-shaven man, dressed in a red cas- 
sock, was approaching the statue, accompanied by 
another ecclesiastic in purple. At once I recognized 
them as a cardinal and a bishop. They were going 
to kiss the toe of the saint. I forced my way through 
the crowd to see how they would act. The cardinal 
drew a white handkerchief from his cassock and 
diligently set to work to give the toe of the huge 
figure of Saint Peter a vigorous scrubbing. He was 
so adept at these menial movements that I concluded 
he must be one of the peasant prelates of whom we 
hear so frequently in America. The respectful pil- 
grims were much interested in the cleansing which 
the cardinal was giving Saint Peter's toe, but the 
example was of no avail. When he was satisfied that 
the member was sufficiently sterilized, the church 
official stooped and brushed it with his lips. He was 
followed by the bishop. Then the thousand or more 
ignorant pilgrims passed by and performed this act 
of devotion without a thought of a microbe. I can 
image the activity that would be exhibited on this 
toe under the lens of a microscope after such an 
army of the unwashed had filed by. 

The next day I returned to Saint Peter's and took 
up as companions an American Methodist preacher 
and his wife, who were en route to India to resume 
their missionary duties. This unrefined and preju- 
diced pair of representatives of our Great Middle 
West performed their sight-seeing obligations in a 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 229 

thoroughly bigoted Protestant manner. The Pope 
and all his adherents were denounced every time a 
new picture came to their notice and as they watched 
the priests of Rome chanting the ancient liturgy. 
They were not very pleasant companions but I con- 
cluded that they were better than none at all. 

Each day during my stay in Rome the three of us 
would meet in the morning, map out our itinerary 
and follow it closely. We visited the Vatican — that 
atrocious piece of architecture ; we spent some time 
in the Sistine Chapel with the usual horde of tour- 
ists; we drove to the Coliseum and the Pantheon and 
saw hundreds of churches in all parts of the city. 

We hired a carriage, with meter and driver, and 
rode along the Appian Way to the Catacombs of 
Saint Callixtus. As we alighted at our destination I 
took down, in my note-book, the figure that the meter 
registered, having a suspicion that the cab driver 
might cheat us. My suspicion was well-founded for, 
on our return, the gauge indicated that an additional 
six miles had been rung up. The fare was cheap 
enough and we had little objection to the amount our 
bill was approaching. However, I remonstrated 
with the driver to let him know that our eyes were 
open and that he had not tricked us without our 
knowledge. The climax of this incident was reached 
at the end of our journey when, in exacting our bill, 
the driver with a sudden jerk of the meter forced it 
up five points more and then insisted on money for 
the last dishonestly acquired mileage. We, of course, 
refused and paid him only for the distance we had 



230 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

travelled, plus the increase registered while visiting 
the Catacombs. As we walked down the street he 
followed with his carriage loudly demanding more 
money. Finally an Italian policeman intervened and 
we were brought to the first police station. Here 
the magistrate heard both sides of the tale and on 
giving the matter a few minutes' consideration told 
us to go on our way and placed the poor cab driver 
under arrest for fraud. 

For a city with a distinctive atmosphere I recom- 
mend Florence. To walk its various streets is a rest 
for the weary. After the teeming millions of Orien- 
tal cities, the repose and quietness of this attractive 
town is most restful. Florence is worth a visit if one 
only sits in its beautiful cathedral and thinks. Its 
identity as the birthplace of Dante, of Petrarch, of 
Boccaccio, of Galileo, of Michael Angelo, of Leo- 
nardo da Vinci, of Andrea del Sarto and a host of 
other great minds is sufficient to stamp it with a 
character which none but the dumb brute would fail 
to discern. 

With the contents of my pocketbook approaching 
the vanishing point I could only visit the large cities 
of Italy and had to give up all idea of seeing the 
countless small towns and villages with their wealth 
of historical association and present-day charm. 
However, even a tramp would not think of touring 
Italy without spending a few days in Venice. Its 
unique situation, if not its rich past, would be suffi- 
cient incentive to have it included in the itinerary 
of the most humble traveller. 



GREECE AND ROME FROM COACH 231 

Venice is a city without a wheeled vehicle, without 
trees, without sidewalks and without many of the 
ordinary appliances found in a modern community. 
Situated as it is on a cluster of seventy-two small 
islands, each inch of space is utilized and there is no 
subdividing of large tracts of land into fifty-foot lots. 
Its streets are a regular maze and the only way to 
get about, in the event one does not hire a guide, is 
to follow the crowd and trust to luck. This was my 
method, which at times proved very interesting. In 
this manner I wandered aimlessly along and, after 
a couple of hours walking, the beautiful Piazza of 
San Marco burst upon me. It was a scene I shall 
never forget. Several thousand people were assem- 
bled for a band concert and I was shortly lost in 
the crowd and had nothing to do but take in the many 
interesting things about me. The stately and Ori- 
ental-looking church of Saint Mark at one end ; the 
imposing Campanile, the ornate Palace of the Doges 
and the old government buildings now converted into 
stores and cafes, presented a picture which for beauty 
and symmetry of design is probably unequalled. 

In the middle of the square a man drove a donkey 
hitched to a small cart, and the novelty of the convey- 
ance aroused the curiosity of not only the children 
but of the grown people as well. 

Midnight seemed to be the hour at which I was 
destined to make my advent into nearly all European 
cities. It was at this hour that my train pulled into 
Milan. Finding cheap hotels had almost become 
second nature to me and, with little difficulty, I lo- 



232 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

cated a comfortable domicile and was soon enjoying 
the rest which no one but a weary traveller can truly 
appreciate. Most of my brief stay in this city was 
devoted to the famous cathedral. This church, the 
second largest in Europe, stands alone from an ar- 
chitectural standpoint. It is richly decorated with 
statues and sculptured pinnacles — more than two 
thousand in number — which from the street look like 
countless inverted icicles. 



CHAPTER XVI 

EUROPE ON A VANISHING BANK-ROLL 

My journey through Europe was a foot-race. I 
was trying to beat a bank-roll which was rapidly 
diminishing and which I feared would be totally ex- 
hausted before I reached England, where I hoped to 
get work. If my money had been rubber I could 
not have stretched it over a greater distance. 

From Milan to Zurich is a big jump in Europe 
and especially is this true when one considers the 
perfect Paradise of things there are to see. But 
with my depleted financial condition always con- 
fronting me I had to press on and to content myself 
with a train-window view of the beautiful Italian 
"lake country" and the rugged scenery of Switzer- 
land. 

Why I went to Zurich, I don't exactly know, but I 
suppose it must have been the cheapest trip open to 
me. Aside from scenery Zurich possesses little of 
interest. After a few hours there, during which I 
visited the Ton-halle, the cathedral in which Zwingli 
— the Swiss reformer — set forth his peculiar doc- 
trines, and made an excursion of the town, I went on 
my way to Munich. 

My train journey was broken by a trip on a little 
steamer across Lake Constance. This small body of 
% 233 



234 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

water is on the boundary line between Switzerland 
and Germany and, on landing, I was received by a 
German policeman who evidently sized me up for 
a spy. I took him for a baggageman and when he 
spoke to me told him to "beat it." He resented my 
tone and manner and pressed his solicitations with 
a little more severity. At last it dawned on me that 
he was an officer and I decided that for my general 
welfare it would be well to treat him more courte- 
ously. I soon learned from him that he wanted my 
passport. I had that document in my possession but 
knew that it was not necessary for an American citi- 
zen to present such an instrument in Germany so I 
declined to produce it. I was able to satisfy the 
inquisitiveness of the gentleman by answering a few 
questions, and he allowed me to go on my 
way. 

In my diary I find the following entry concerning 
Munich: — "Munich is celebrated for two things, its 
art and its beer. I spent little time on the art but 
confined myself to the beer. I sampled it thoroughly 
and can say that it is a high-class liquid. For the 
equivalent of two cents one gets a large glass, and 
for five cents a toilet pitcher sufficiently large to 
drown a ten-pound baby. 

"There are no saloons in Germany or on the con- 
tinent of Europe, liquor being sold in restaurants and 
cafes, all respectable places frequented by women as 
well as men. I once knew a good American Baptist 
woman who was as strict an abstainer as ever lived, 
but she could not withstand the temptation to par- 



ON A VANISHING BANK-ROLL 235 

take of beer in Munich during her sojourn there. 
I understand that many staunch prohibitionists tem- 
porarily fall off the wagon in this manner. 

"In Italy every one drinks vino, but in Germany 
men, women and children drink beer. For an Ital- 
ian to eat a meal without wine or a German without 
beer would be considered in these countries as ex- 
traordinary as if a man should bathe his feet with his 
shoes on. It is a common enough thing to see a 
pretty German girl of eighteen calmly drinking a 
schooner of beer instead of the afternoon cup of 
tea of her American sister. Absolute prohibition has 
no more chance in Europe than the snowball of the 
classic simile, and one might as well talk to a turtle 
on the subject as to these liquor-drinking but temper- 
ate peoples." 

From Munich to Vienna is about a day's journey 
and the third-class accommodations are the poorest 
I encountered in Europe. I sat in one of these com- 
partments with three Austrians for the entire dis- 
tance without saying a word, assuming that none of 
them spoke English. As our train was drawing into 
Vienna I unthinkingly inquired the time of the man 
opposite me. He replied in excellent English and 
we both smiled to think that all day we had sat in 
silence although communication would have been 
possible if we had only known it. 

"You are an American, are you not?" he asked. 

"Yes," I replied. 

"What are you doing away over here?" 

"Just knocking around the country," I informed 



236 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

him. "Do you know where I can find a cheap hotel 
in Vienna?" 

He said that he did and, when we arrived at the 
station, very kindly conducted me to a clean and 
modest hostelry. 

"What are your plans for the evening?" he in- 
quired. 

"I have none," I said. 

"I ^expect to meet a couple of my friends and 
should be very glad to have you come along," he 
added cordially. 

I cheerfully accepted this opportunity of making 
some acquaintances in a city the size of Vienna. We 
boarded a street car, received a transfer about the 
dimensions of an American Sunday newspaper, 
changed to another line and were soon at a cafe, 
where I was introduced to his two friends. 

These three Austrians were clean-cut chaps of the 
middle class. During the evening I learned that 
their occupations were respectively piano-tuner, bar- 
ber and window-trimmer. To add an American 
tramp to this trio made, I thought, a rather ex- 
traordinary assortment of vocations. The prospects 
for a lively evening looked very gloomy, for the 
combined wealth of such an aggregation was natur- 
ally small. We dined at a big restaurant and then 
set out to see the town. 

First we lodged ourselves in one of Vienna's large 
cafes, where we remained for two hours watching 
the fascinating crowds and listening to the music. 
During this time we had but one glass each of the 



ON A VANISHING BANK-ROLL 237 

delicious Vienna coffee and when I suggested that it 
was only right that we should continue to buy while 
sitting at a table and enjoying ourselves my compan- 
ions assured me that it was all right to spend a whole 
evening in a cafe with the purchase of but one drink, 
for every one did it. As an American this seemed 
strange to me, to say the least. I confess that I felt 
rather sheepish about it. 

The barber and the piano-tuner bade us farewell 
and the window-trimmer and I started out to see 
Vienna by moonlight. I shortly discovered that the 
party was to be at my expense for, as poor as I was, 
I was a rich man compared to my Austrian com- 
panion who from his vocation received a salary of 
twenty dollars a month. However, I was willing to 
carry him for a while as he was not only good com- 
pany but served as an excellent guide. 

The places we left unseen in the night life of 
Vienna do not exist. My window-trimmer friend 
certainly knew the town and led me into all the cafes 
and joints he could find. We were ready for any- 
thing and after a general round of the more respec- 
table places we heard of a large public ball which was 
being held in the opposite side of the city, and thither 
we decided to go. The late Hinky Dink's dances in 
Chicago or the "Chickens' Ball" given in honour of 
an ex-pugilist in San Francisco might be considered 
the last word in refinement compared with this 
Vienna function. It would be indiscreet to go into a 
detailed description of this "social" affair for fear of 
infringing on the American postal laws. The im- 



238 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

mense hall was crowded with representatives of 
Vienna's under-world. The women were attired in 
short skirts, tights and one-piece bathing suits. Li- 
quor was so plentiful that it rose and fell like the 
ocean tide. The rag, the turkey trot and other mod- 
ern dances of America, which are the subject of so 
much criticism, would look like devotional exercises 
alongside of the steps that were executed at this four- 
in-the-morning function. 

The daytime I spent by myself seeing the more 
ennobling sights of the city, while my Viennese pal 
arranged neckties, collars, shirts and pajamas in the 
windows of a large clothing store. With the aid 
of Baedeker I made as thorough an investigation of 
the daylight sights of the city as I had made of 
those of the night. 

Each evening I met my native friend. One night 
we went for dinner to a quiet little restaurant, where 
we made the acquaintance of a floorwalker in one of 
the large department stores of the metropolis and 
his elderly fiancee, who were seated at the same table 
with us. They were an interesting pair. It was a 
mystery to the woman why I should have wanted to 
come to Austria when America was such a fine coun- 
try. "You must be very rich to be able to travel 
around the world," was a remark she made — a re- 
mark I had heard probably five hundred times during 
my trip. 

On the way to the cafe the window-trimmer and 
I were approached by a street vendor who was sell- 



ON A VANISHING BANK-ROLL 239 

ing plaster of paris busts of the famous men of 
Austria. 

"How much are they?" I inquired. 

"Two dollars each," he replied. 

"I will give you a nickel for one," I said as 
a joke. 

"All right, sir," he exclaimed in an instant, and 
half dazed with the sudden reduction in his price I 
bought two of the images, giving one to my friend. 
The other I purposely let fall on the cement sidewalk 
and the bust of Francis Joseph, whose likeness it 
was, went into a thousand pieces at the feet of the 
vendor — who was much disgusted at my wilful ex- 
travagance. The Austrian drew the bust of a two- 
year-old baby, purporting to represent one of 
Austria's illustrious sons at that tender age, and this 
ungainly toy he presented very formally to the cafe 
keeper's wife, who presided at the till. She received 
the piece of bric-a-brac in a most gracious manner 
and with much amusement. The baby was perched 
on the top of the till and there remained the rest 
of the evening. 

Late that night I was the guest of the window- 
trimmer in the room in which he lived. He had pre- 
pared a supper of rye bread, cheese and beer. The 
repast consumed, he entertained me by playing a few 
simple tunes on his cheap and shabby-looking violin. 
About midnight we separated and as I was leaving 
Vienna in the morning we said our last farewell — 
among the most touching of my trip. 

On my way to Budapest I made the acquaintance 



2 4 o JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

of a Serbian, fisherman, an Hungarian blacksmith 
and a plumber. They all spoke English, for they 
had lived in America, and when they were not talk- 
ing to me they were expounding the fine points of 
that nation to their countrymen in the third-class 
coach of the train. A Roumanian who was aboard, 
becoming interested in my travels, invited me to be 
his guest on a three weeks' horseback trip through 
the mountains of the Balkan States. He said that we 
could put up at farmhouses for nothing and that my 
only expense would be the hire of the saddle and the 
horse. This was a very alluring invitation but the 
state of my finances made it impossible for me to 
accept. 

Baedeker states that only the "lower orders," 
whatever that means, use third-class coaches in Eu- 
rope. He should travel in this manner for a while 
and he would change his mind. The German third- 
class is good enough for any human being, and the 
passengers whom I met looked very civilized and 
had all the appearance of taking at least a weekly 
bath and of wearing underclothes. The Austrian 
third-class is an exception and carries a lower grade 
of humanity, representatives of the Great Unwashed, 
who comprise about eighty per cent, of this earth's 
inhabitants. 

I mingled with the bustling crowds on the streets 
of Budapest for three days and then became a sec- 
ond-class passenger en route to Paris, there being no 
through third-class coach. This journey through the 
beautiful Austrian and Swiss Alps was uneventful. I 



ON A VANISHING BANK-ROLL 241 

was only entertained by a German, who had returned 
from America where he held a position as cook in a 
short-order restaurant in Butte, and a French couple 
who fed their two-year-old baby large quantities of 
beer. This infant had a capacity that would make 
many an American undergraduate envious. 

Alighting from my train at midnight I walked 
through the crowded station and in a minute was 
making my way along a deserted street of Paris. I 
intended to locate an hotel as soon as possible. I had 
hardly gone a block when a heavy downpour of rain 
set in and I foresaw that I was in for a thorough 
drenching unless I sought shelter at once. At that 
moment a man appeared out of the darkness and in- 
quired if I wanted an hotel. It had been my custom 
to decline all street hotel hawkers but, in view of the 
heavy rain, I decided to accept the services of the 
man and to find out what kind of an establishment 
he had. He took my hand bag and started back 
towards the station with me close behind him. We 
turned to the right and walked along the railroad 
while the rain continued to come down in torrents. 
Three blocks in this direction and my guide crossed 
the tracks and proceeded down a dark street. Sus- 
picions began to arise within me as to where the 
Frenchman was leading me. My knowledge of 
French was so limited that I could not find out any- 
thing but that I was going to an hotel. I decided to 
continue. I had heard stories of how innocent trav- 
ellers are sometimes trapped by the thugs of Euro- 
pean cities, drugged and robbed. This thought came 



242 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

to my mind but did not weaken my determination to 
go ahead and get under cover as soon as possible. 
We continued along this dark thoroughfare. We 
seemed to be in the wholesale district and there was 
not a human being in sight. Finally we turned down 
a narrow alley, at the end of which was a decrepit 
stairway. Up this rickety flight we ascended and at 
the top turned into a room dimly lighted by the inter- 
mittent flicker of a candle, which was resting on a 
high desk. Behind this desk I could see a bearded 
Frenchman who peered over his spectacles as the two 
of us entered. My guide and the old fellow ex- 
changed a few words and I was conducted down the 
hall to my room. This compartment contained a 
wash-stand and a heavy wooden bed. Inside, my 
suspicions began to increase as to the safety of my 
place of abode. There seemed to be an atmosphere 
of mystery and I thought that I might expect any- 
thing. I listened at the door for strange sounds but 
heard nothing but a creaking noise which seemed to 
come from the back end of the building. Before re- 
tiring I decided to take every precaution and made 
up my mind that if any Frenchman attempted to dis- 
turb my rest with the intention of relieving me of my 
money he was going to be welcomed with at least the 
best fight he ever encountered. I first locked the 
door with a pass key I had in my possession. Then 
I placed the back of the bed against the door and 
wedged the wash-stand in between it and the wall. 
The room was so small that the stand made a tight 
fit in the space left for it. Armed with a piece of 



ON A VANISHING BANK-ROLL 243 

pipe I found in one of the drawers of the wash- 
stand I threw myself on the bed, clothes and all, and 
shortly was as sound asleep as if guarded by a «egi- 
ment. 

My suspicions may have been nothing but a bubble 
to explode in the morning. However, I am sure that 
I was in the proper place to be stripped of my coin 
by any means necessary. I evidently was not worth 
plucking. I was awakened in the morning by the 
moving trains in the yards near-by and without any 
delay grabbed my bag and in a minute was out of 
the joint on my way to a more civilized part of the 
city. I learned from a French shop-keeper a few 
days later that in this very lodging house in which 
I feared foul play, two Englishmen had been gagged, 
robbed and dumped into an alley for the rest of the 
night. 

My experience in this hotel netted me two things : 
scabies and influenza. The bed-clothes were so filthy 
that I was infected by a germ which- penetrates the 
skin and causes no end of trouble. It was fully three 
months later that I mastered this disease, known by 
the euphonious name of scabies, and only after pro- 
longed treatment by a doctor. My exposure to 
the rain and cold gave me an attack of influenza 
which, with its accompanying fever, pains and 
aches, was poor equipment with which to see 
Paris. 

In spite of this malady I kept moving and suc- 
ceeded in finding a clean and comfortable room at 
one franc a day on the fifth floor of a small hotel. 



244 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

The main objection to this place was the absence of 
an elevator and it was a most fatiguing effort for a 
sick man to -climb these five flights several times a 
day. Later I learned that I had not much improved 
upon my neighbourhood of the first night, for I was 
now located in Montmartre. 

To spend a few days in Paris without company 
except a case, of influenza was anything but a cheerful 
outlook. I went to a drug store and told one of the 
clerks my symptoms. He put up a prescription which 
I took conscientiously, at the same time exerting my 
will power not to let the disease get sufficient hold 
on my constitution to force me to bed and make me 
a public charge of the municipal authorities. Each 
day I arose, hoping that my fever would subside, and 
dragged myself about the city. On the Rue de Tur- 
bigo in the vicinity of the Halles Centrales, I fainted 
away and fell to the sidewalk. When I recovered 
consciousness I was speeding at a rapid rate in an 
ambulance for the municipal hospital. A glass of 
water was being choked down my throat. This re- 
suscitated me. Accompanied by one of the ambu- 
lance attendants I returned to my hotel. 

The average visitor to Paris places himself in the 
hands of a guide connected with one of the large 
hotels and is thus relieved of all the routine and de- 
tail of systematically and profitably seeing the city. 
A guide is a luxury never meant for a poor man. I 
never entertained the thought of hiring such an in- 
dividual. A map of the streets, a Baedeker and 
some intelligence was all I had. With this outfit I 



ON A VANISHING BANK-ROLL 245 

explored Paris. Sometimes I would go about sight- 
seeing methodically, and again I would simply drift. 
To drift is the more interesting. Down the Boule- 
vard Magenta I found my way to the Halles Cen- 
trales, the central and largest market of Paris. I 
wandered through the interesting pavilions which- 
cover twenty-two acres. I jostled along the narrow 
streets, covered with hay, decayed vegetables and 
other refuse, and mingled with the natives. I little 
realized what was in store for me. I crossed the 
Seine and visited the Hotel des Invalides, under the 
dome of which repose the ashes of Napoleon I. I 
moved on to the Pantheon where I attached myself 
to a group of American tourists conducted by a 
Cook's guide. This harmless gathering surely could 
not lead me into any trouble. I stood in their midst 
and listened to the mumbling speech of the guide as 
though I were a regular member of the party and 
had paid my fee. We were taken to the vaults in 
which are located the tombs of Victor Hugo, Mira- 
beau, Rousseau, Voltaire and others. An attendant 
of the Pantheon went in advance of our little proces- 
sion and unlocked the heavy doors which led into 
the various tombs and the curious looking crowd 
would draw together while the guide grew eloquent 
on the life of some reclining corpse. When we sur- 
rounded the tomb of Voltaire I became so engrossed 
by the fact that I was in the presence of the remains 
of this master mind of the past that I failed to leave 
with the party and stood a minute, rather stupefied. 
When I returned to my senses I found that the porter 



246 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

had locked the door of the vault and I was incar- 
cerated in the gruesome abode of a dead man. The 
Thomas Cook and Son party had returned to the 
main floor and I was the sole living creature in the 
crypt of the building. To add to my ghastly situa- 
tion the lights were turned off, for it was nearly 
night-fall. My prospects for immediate freedom 
were rapidly diminishing. I decided to call out in 
the hope that I would attract the attention of one 
of the porters on the main floor. I gave a shriek 
which sent shivers down my spine and nearly fright- 
ened me to death. I at once saw that it was useless 
to shout as a means of being rescued, for the echoes 
of my call resounded in such confusion from the 
walls of the small vault that they sounded like a 
bedlam of bass drums turned loose. If I shrieked 
again I was afraid that I might awake Voltaire. 
I had heard ghost stories in which the main charac- 
ter, on a dare, voluntarily entered the tomb of a 
dead man; but I never thought that I should play 
this role against my will in the heart of Paris. 
There was nothing left for me to do but wait until 
some one came to liberate me. The prospect of this 
event's happening before morning was very remote. 
I therefore resigned myself to my confinement and 
concluded to spend the night communing with the 
spirit of Voltaire. I hope that the august gentleman 
enjoyed my company. I know that I didn't enjoy his. 
On previous occasions in my life I have, under trying 
circumstances, spent lengthy and wearisome nights, 
but as I recall them, they were mere flashes of time 



ON A VANISHING BANK-ROLL 247 

compared to the long, ghostly and dark hours I slept 
with Voltaire. It was about six o'clock in the eve- 
ning and I estimated that it would be at least nine 
in the morning before another party of travellers 
would be conducted into the vaults of the Pantheon. 
I made up my mind to spend most of this time in 
sleep, if such a thing were possible. I stretched out 
on the cold pavement, alongside of my bed-mate, 
closed my eyes and tried to imagine that I was in a 
warm couch and thus hypnotize myself into sleep. 
My mind refused to transform the hard slab under 
me into a comfortable mattress. The corpse of Vol- 
taire was haunting my brain and the stillness of the 
tomb nearly drove me insane. The long hours wore 
away while I lay awake, my mind full of hideous 
thoughts and imaginations. About midnight I dozed 
off from pure mental exhaustion and spent the rest 
of the night the victim of the most gruesome and 
ghastly dreams any man ever had. I awoke at six 
o'clock, only to spend three more hours in this fear- 
ful prison cell. I was literally buried alive. Shortly 
after nine I heard the clump of feet and chatter of 
voices and I knew a group of tourists was approach- 
ing. My spirits were immediately transformed. In 
a minute the tourists stood before my tomb. The 
door was unlocked and I rushed out like a wild beast. 
The attendant stood speechless. The sightseers drew 
away in fright. A living man leaping from a tomb 
of the dead! I did not wait to give any explana- 
tion or receive congratulations on obtaining my free- 
dom, but bounded down the crypt to the stairs, up 



248 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

to the main floor and out of the Pantheon into the 
fresh air. Those fifteen hours with Voltaire seemed 
like a century, and I sauntered down the street with 
the feeling that Rip Van Winkle had nothing 
on me. 



CHAPTER XVII 

FROM LUXURY TO HUNGER 

Recollections of a jail sentence in the Pantheon 
were enough to make any man leave town. The 
next morning I was riding through northern France 
gazing at the beautiful fields and gently rolling hills 
from the window of a third-class coach. I was bound 
for London. At Calais I filed by the immigration 
officials with the rest of the third-class passengers 
before I was allowed on board the ship sailing for 
Dover. This is an indignity which the American 
tourist who travels first- or second-class does not 
have to undergo. 

The soft outline of England's shore appeared 
through the mist of the channel, and as I stood on 
the deck of the steamer I turned over in my mind the 
fact that my trip would soon be over. A few weeks' 
roaming in the British Isles and I thought I would 
be on my way across the Atlantic. But with a foot- 
loose traveller anything is likely to happen — and 
England proved no exception in having a surprise 
for me which upset my vague plans and entirely 
changed my course. 

It is only a few hours from Dover to London and 
the road passes through picturesque country scenery. 

249 



250 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

The green fields and meadows, the fat, wholesome 
sheep, peaceably grazing, the quaint windmills and 
zig-zag fences and the substantial village houses all 
made me fall in love with England at once. At dusk 
I was one of London's seven million. I was now in 
a land where the people speak a language I had not 
used very much for some time, and where I would 
be able to make myself understood without using my 
hands. I could also eat in almost true American 
style. England is the only country in Europe where 
one can get a real breakfast. It was certainly a 
pleasure to sit down to a bowl of porridge, bacon 
and eggs and even pancakes after the monotonous 
rolls and coffee, and occasional jam, of the con- 
tinent. 

That evening I sat in a comfortable arm-chair be- 
fore a cheerful fire, in a cozy dormitory study of 
Lincoln College, Oxford. I was the guest of a Cali- 
fornia friend, an undergraduate of the University. 
It was a bit of luxury that I thought I had well 
earned and I looked forward with pleasure to a week 
of rest and comfort, which I badly needed after my 
illness in Paris. I felt that such a rest would put me 
in proper physical trim for resuming my travels. 

For seven days I led the life of a plutocrat. I 
could hardly believe it. I arose each morning at nine 
o'clock and climbed into a tub of hot water, prepared 
by a servant; then (among other articles) into a pair 
of shoes polished by the same individual. After 
breakfast, served in my room, I would take a stroll 
about the college grounds with an English cap on my 



FROM LUXURY TO HUNGER 251 

head, a brier pipe in my mouth and a walking stick 
in my hand. 

Oxford is an ideal place in which to take the rest 
cure. Beside its academic atmosphere, which one 
feels immediately, the historic buildings of the sev- 
eral colleges with their graceful spires and sacred 
associations, the miles of green turf fields for sport, 
and the winding river languidly pursuing its course 
among the drooping elms, made, a scene to which it 
is easy to become passionately attached, and one in 
which I lost myself, or rather found myself, com- 
pletely. Such environment would cure the most help- 
less invalid. It made a new being of me. 

In the afternoon I would watch a game of foot- 
ball, hockey or tennis. I was much impressed by the 
universality of sport in England, and especially at 
Oxford. All the students take part in some form 
of athletics, and the University has provided dozens 
of hockey, cricket and football fields in addition to 
many boat houses and facilities for rowing and water 
sports. I attended the four hundredth meeting of 
the Davenant Society, a literary organization of Lin- 
coln College undergraduates, and heard a paper read 
by the Rev. Dr. Carlyle on William Morris. The 
members of the society took part in a free discussion 
of the subject afterwards and many admirable im- 
promptu speeches were made. I heard a debate on 
Socialism in the Oxford Union, one of the speakers 
for the negative being a Hindu student. It was the 
close of the University term and several of the stu- 
dents were giving celebrations in their rooms. I was 



252 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

a guest at one of these at which the most striking 
feature was — to me — the large number of empty 
bottles that were lined up in rows on the centre-table 
at the close of the function. I was told that this 
room had been occupied by John Wesley, founder of 
the Methodist Society, when he was an Oxford un- 
dergraduate ! 

In the chapel of Magdalen College I heard the 
famous male choir, probably the best in England. I 
called, one afternoon, on the Cowley fathers — or 
Society of Saint John the Evangelist, a monastic 
order of the Church of England — at their mother 
house in Cowley, a suburb of Oxford. I visited the 
village of Iffley and saw the ancient church of Saint 
Mary the Virgin. This edifice is one of the few 
Norman churches in England, and is a typical ex- 
ample of the twelfth-century village church. I got 
an insight into English home life by making a trip 
to Shipton-under-Wychwood to visit relatives of a 
friend in America. Shipton-under-Wychwood is a 
representative English village of about eight hun- 
dred souls, with an ancient parish church, squire's 
court and park, and many quaint old English homes. 
My host lived in a substantial old house with the 
proper quota of servants. Everything was carried 
on with, what seemed to an American, an undue 
amount of ceremony. These good people shunned 
all modern conveniences, such as telephones, electric 
lights, and up-to-date plumbing appliances, consider- 
ing them vulgar and commonplace. 

My high living continued. My Oxford friend ac- 




r-1 



w 
w 



o 

a! 

u 



FROM LUXURY TO HUNGER 253 

companied me to London and we both registered at 
the Inns of. Court on Holborn street. This hotel, 
facing Lincoln Inn Fields, was a pleasant, moderate- 
priced establishment, and was the only hostelry in 
which I had stayed which could be ranked as first- 
class. Of course, I was living beyond my means, but 
it was out of the question for me to drag my Oxford 
friend down to my usual plane of living. 

I once came across an American from the Middle 
West travelling in Europe and asked him if he had 
been to London. He replied that he had, and when 
I inquired how he liked the National Gallery he 
looked at me with the intelligence of a cow. I then 
ventured a query about Saint Paul's Cathedral — and 
he told me that he had not seen it. I thought I was 
on a safe footing when I asked for his impressions 
of Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament. 
He had missed these also. 

"What did you see?" I asked. 

u Oh, I spent about an hour walking up and down 
the main street, looking in the store windows." 

If this was all there is to "seeing" a European 
city, why not stay at home on the farm? 

My collegiate friend and I had our hands full 
with the many places we mapped out, and we were 
far from satisfied when we had leisurely taken them 
all in. The National, Tate and Wallace Galleries 
were on our list. We spent hours in the British 
Museum. We visited both the Abbey and Saint 
Paul's several times, as well as countless other 
churches. We saw the Tower of London, Bucking- 



254 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

ham Palace, Westminster Cathedral, Hyde Park 
and so forth. At night we visited the various halls 
and theatres and on Sundays went to church in the 
morning and evening, and in the afternoon attended 
the concerts given under the auspices of the Sunday 
Concert Society by the Queen's Hall Orchestra. 

My money was getting low. Something had to 
happen — and happen soon. My Oxonian friend left 
for St. Malo, in northern France, to spend a month 
studying French. I decided to take stock and find 
how much money I had. Counting all my cash I 
found that I had but thirty-five dollars. Over five 
thousand miles from home, out of work, with no 
friends and only thirty-five dollars — it meant I was 
broke. Work in England under normal conditions 
would be hardly profitable, for I could at best earn 
only about twenty shillings a week. At this time 
work was impossible. A great coal strike was on 
and every line of business was in a very disorganized 
state, due to the consequent fuel famine. Trains 
were running intermittently. Factories were closed 
and the country was full of the starving and the un- 
employed. I had in mind purchasing a steerage ticket 
for America or obtaining a job as waiter or deck- 
hand on a trans-Atlantic liner. 

I drifted with the crowds along the Strand. I 
continued down Holborn Street and came to Lud- 
gate Circus, where I went into the office of Thomas 
Cook and Son. There I found a letter from Nor- 
way. It was from Mr. Scott Turner, manager of 
the Arctic Coal Company, offering me a position in 



FROM LUXURY TO HUNGER 255 

Tromsd, Norway, and on the island of West Spitz- 
bergen, at one hundred dollars a month and ex- 
penses. 

This letter was the opening sentence in a volume 
of adventure. 

I had foreseen that my funds would soon run out, 
and, while in Italy, had written several letters to a 
number of business concerns asking for work. One 
of these was to Mr. Scott Turner, whom I had 
known years ago in Seattle and of whose where- 
abouts I had lost track. On receipt of Turner's ad- 
dress from my brother in America, I wrote him for 
a job, telling him that I was working my way around 
the world, and that being a poor man there was 
little luxury in it. In his reply he said that he thought 
he could make use of a man of about my size and 
shape, and he outlined a most bewildering list of 
duties. I was to spend two months in Tromso ar- 
ranging the company's files, running errands and 
doing general office work. On the first of June I 
was to sail for Spitzbergen at the expense of the 
company, where I was to have charge of the mine 
office, operate the store, look after the supplies in 
four warehouses and supervise the commissary de- 
partment, which fed two hundred and fifty men. 
Turner stated that these duties would take up about 
fifteen hours each day, and that if I was not needed 
in the mine I could have the rest of the time to my- 
self. 

After reading Turner's letter I at once looked 
up Tromso and Spitzbergen on a map. Tromso I 



256 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

found to be three hundred miles north of the Arctic 
Circle, or four hundred miles farther north than 
Nome; while Spitzbergen was about one thousand 
miles from the North Pole. The Arctic Coal Com- 
pany was an American corporation mining coal on 
the island of West Spitzbergen and its purchasing 
office was in Tromso. 

Fifteen minutes after reading this letter I was 
on my way to the Arctic Circle — in a third-class 
coach going to Newcastle. En route I stopped off 
for a few days' visit with an uncle of mine, the vicar 
of the English church in a small village called Need- 
ham Market. He had not seen me since I was an 
infant in Canada, and I suppose that he was curious 
to see what sort of a specimen his tramp nephew 
would prove to be. I was, at the same time, anxious 
to make a good impression on the old gentleman, 
whom I knew to be full of aristocratic British ideas. 

England turned out to be a land in which I was 
destined to live in luxury. That evening I sat at the 
vicarage dining table and put away a thoroughly 
good meal, which included wine and which was 
served with all the ceremony that an English house- 
hold could muster. I had no evening clothes. My 
uncle thoughtfully dispensed with such garments 
himself out of consideration for me. I found him 
to be a high Churchman, a staunch Conservative 
and a man who gave the impression that he disliked 
everything American. He considered us a crude lot, 
with a few virtues but somewhat vulgar and best tol- 
erated at a distance. The Monroe Doctrine was to 



FROM LUXURY TO HUNGER 257 

him like a red rag to a bull. He argued that the 
population of America was made up of half castes 
through inter-marriage with negroes, and that our 
climate was so hot that it produced a lazy race of 
people. I laughed at such statements and tried to 
accept his hospitality in as gracious a manner as I 
could. 

He lent me his bicycle and I rode to the neigh- 
bouring village of Stowmarket. Here I visited the 
parish church, obtaining the key of the edifice from 
the bar-keeper across the road. This obliging per- 
son was very courteous and kindly. He conducted 
me through the church, discoursing on its points of 
interest and displaying great pride in the building. 
On the walls of his saloon, behind the bar, were pic- 
tures of the church choir and building. He gave me 
a notice with a list of Lenten services. I bought a 
drink. 

Upon leaving my uncle's he very kindly offered 
me some money to help defray the expenses of my 
trip. I did not, however, accept this well-intended 
assistance. 

The road passes through many interesting places 
from Needham to Newcastle, and I regretted very 
much that I was compelled to get nothing but a 
train-window glimpse of the great cathedrals at Ely, 
Lincoln, York and Durham. After lodging at New- 
castle in a cheap hotel I sailed for Norway as a 
steerage passenger on the Jupiter, a small steamer 
belonging to a Norwegian company with the over- 
powering name of Det Nordenfjeldske Dampskils- 



258 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

selskab. My steerage ticket cost me twenty-five 
dollars, which left but three dollars to see me through 
to my destination. I soon discovered that the price 
of this ticket did not include meals. The journey 
from Newcastle to Tromso requires seven days, and 
I was therefore confronted with the problem of 
stretching three dollars over a period of one week. 
With this sum I had to buy food from the steerage 
steward. When it gave out I had to fast. 

There are few attractive features connected with 
Norwegian steerage accommodations, which rival 
those of Italian ships in their lack of conveniences. 
But ups and downs were a part of the game, and I 
recalled with pleasure — and regret — the good meals 
and beds I had enjoyed during my sojourn in Eng- 
land. 

The first morning out, Stavanger, on the coast of 
southern Norway, hove in sight amid a cluster of 
snow-clad hills. We had little time for this small 
town, and after an hour's stop the Jupiter turned her 
nose towards the north and resumed her journey. 
At Bergen I tramped down the gangway with my 
fellow passengers of the steerage and spent a few 
hours, during the time our ship was in the harbour, 
roaming the streets. I found my way in and out 
among the alleys of the fishy-smelling fish markets 
and ate some food which I bought, taking advantage 
of land prices. In Trondhjem I made my way 
through a snow storm to the Cathedral, returning 
to the ship by way of the main street, where I laid 
in a supply of cheese and bread. 









FROM LUXURY TO HUNGER 259 

The trip along the Norwegian coast is a beautiful 
one, and our boat slowly wound through the maze 
of narrow channels and picturesque fjords. For a 
few hours we would be hemmed in by an endless 
number of little snow-covered isles on one side, with 
the abrupt and rugged cliffs of the Norwegian main- 
land on the other. In a short time we would steam 
out into the open ocean. The first morning out from 
Trondhjem we crossed the Arctic Circle. A feeling 
of intense loneliness came over me and I almost 
imagined that I was going to another world. The 
snow-covered mountains and islands, the sharpness 
of the cold, the absence of any habitations along the 
coast, the incessant and silent plunging of the ship, 
the dreary surroundings of the steerage and the 
emptiness of my stomach, all filled me with the most 
lonely and forlorn thoughts. Where was I going 
and what put it into my head to wander to this out- 
of-the-way corner of the earth? 

The problem of food had become a serious one. 
My money had given out and the supply of pro- 
visions I had laid in at Trondhjem had all been eaten. 
The steerage steward had taken a dislike to me, for 
I had rebelled at the small portions he dealt out in 
the beginning of the trip, when I had money with 
which to pay. I tried to make up to him in the hope 
of a "handout," but instead I nearly got a "kick- 
out." There was nothing to do but fast until I 
reached my journey's end. 

Late one afternoon, couched in the centre of a 
vast desert of snow, a small village appeared. Our 



^' r V*i 



260 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

boat directed her nose towards this dreary and lone- 
some-looking settlement, and in a short time was 
alongside the pier. It was Tromso. How glad I 
was! As soon as the lines were tied and the ship 
made fast I descended the gangway and set out to 
find my friend Turner. I didn't have a cent of 
money and hadn't eaten for two days. 






CHAPTER XVIII 

A RESIDENT OF THE ARCTIC ZONE 

On alighting from the ship I took a deep breath 
of the fishy atmosphere and proceeded up the street 
lugging my two bags. I was now three hundred 
miles north of the Arctic Circle, and the island town 
of Tromso was buried in eight feet of snow. I had 
walked barely ten yards when my feet flew out from 
under me and I came down with a fearful thud. My 
two grips fell from my hands and slid about on the 
slippery snow of the packed street like drops of 
quicksilver. I gathered my meagre belongings to- 
gether and started again. Ten yards more — and I 
fell in the same undignified manner. I thought the 
eight thousand inhabitants of Tromso were gazing 
at me, as the crowds on the sidewalks congregated 
to see the drunken foreigner perform. I tried again 
to make some progress, but it seemed impossible for 
me to keep my equilibrium. I nearly became dis- 
couraged. A waxed floor is a ploughed field com- 
pared to the winter smoothness of a Tromso street. 

I found Turner in his room at the Grand Hotel 
and we were very glad to see one another, for we 
had not seen each other for four years. To meet up 
here in the frozen north made a reunion of two 
Americans especially cordial. 

261 



262 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

A Mr. Gilson of Pennsylvania, superintendent of 
the Arctic Coal Company, was Turner's roommate, 
and, with my advent, the foreign population of 
Tromso was raised to three. This scarcity of aliens 
made us conspicuous members of the community and 
a great source of curiosity. We three comprised the 
American staff of the company; and we all lived at 
the Grand Hotel. The hotel was a three-story frame 
building buried up to the window sills of the first 
floor in snow. It was conducted on purely Nor- 
wegian lines. 

The average inhabitant of Tromso lives on an in- 
cessant diet of fish and boiled potatoes, with an oc- 
casional piece of cheese or canned "salt horse." 
Breakfast is almost an unknown meal, and when it 
does take place it is seldom held earlier than ten 
o'clock. Dinner follows at two-thirty in the after- 
noon and supper at nine in the evening. This is a 
most distressing schedule when one wishes to keep 
office hours and accomplish some work during the 
day. By a special arrangement with the proprietor 
of the hotel we were able to have our breakfast 
served in our rooms each morning at half-past eight. 
Cheese and bread being the usual diet, we could not 
expect any great variety of food at this meal. On 
their arrival several months ago, Turner had ex- 
pressed a wish for soft boiled eggs and Gilson for 
fried eggs, and these accompanied with bread and 
coffee, had been the menu of the initial meal of the 
day ever since. When I arrived there must have 
been great confusion in the kitchen among the cooks 



A RESIDENT OF ARCTIC ZONE 263 

and waiters to determine what odd notions I might 
have about eating. However, without consulting me, 
the maid appeared on my first morning with one 
soft boiled egg and one fried egg, and this was my 
assortment for breakfast every day of my month's 
stay in the hotel. 

Bath-tubs seem to be a rarity in Norway, and the 
town of Tromso had the distinction of possessing 
one bath house. Our hotel and all private houses, 
with few exceptions, did not contain a tub. To add 
to this scarcity, the one bath house only opened its 
doors to bathers on one day of the week. We 
American residents were three of its most regular 
patrons. Bathing in a wash-basin is an unsatisfac- 
tory process as well as an extremely awkward one. 
However, we were forced to this means of cleansing 
ourselves during the interval that the bath-tubs of 
the village reposed behind closed doors. 

The morning after my arrival I reported for work 
at the company's office. I was at first assigned to ar- 
ranging and card indexing a tangled pile of machin- 
ery catalogues and supply hand-books. I next pre- 
pared a systematic card index of all the articles of 
merchandise that the company had purchased during 
the previous years of its existence. I finally became 
sufficiently familiar with the business to assist in the 
buying of the food and mining supplies for the sum- 
mer season at the mine. 

The office was a crowded little space on the ground 
floor of a frame building on the main street of 
Tromso, and consisted of three small rooms. In 



264 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

addition to the three Americans the staff included a 
chief clerk and an office boy. The chief clerk was a 
Norwegian who had served as an American soldier 
in the Philippines and who spoke excellent English. 
He was an invaluable man and acted as the channel 
'through which all business of the office was trans- 
acted, for the Americans, not knowing Norwegian, 
had to have him translate all letters and contracts 
and interpret all conversations. The office boy was 
a young native who had acquired a fair smattering 
of English. Although an industrious lad he was fre- 
quently drawn from his work in amazement at what 
he considered the outlandish and freakish manner- 
isms of the Americans. 

The office was busy buying supplies for the sum- 
mer and coming winter seasons at the mine on Spitz- 
bergen, making contracts for the sale of coal, char- 
tering ships and hiring men as miners and labourers. 

Spitzbergen is entirely frozen in eight months of 
the year, and the mine had an open season, or time 
when the coal could be shipped out, of four months. 
It was necessary to have a winter crew and a sum- 
mer crew. The winter men, who numbered about 
one hundred, were now on the island and were out 
of touch with the world, with the exception of com- 
munication by means of a wireless station operated 
by the Norwegian government. This crew did noth- 
ing but mine, and the coal was placed in a stock pile 
alongside of the wharf. A new force of two hun- 
dred men was taken to the mine at the opening of 
the summer season and the huge task of shipping out 





Upper: The Author's Home in Tromso 
Lower: Tromso in Summer-time 



A RESIDENT OF ARCTIC ZONE 265 

the coal mined during the winter was undertaken. 

The company chartered all its eight boats with the 
exception of one, the William D. Munroe, which it 
owned. This ship was in dry-dock undergoing a 
thorough and expensive overhauling under the nu- 
merous and many unnecessary instructions from of- 
ficials and inspectors of the Norwegian government. 
The company chartered the other seven tramp steam- 
ers at the rate of one hundred and twenty-five dollars 
a day, procuring them through ship brokers in Lon- 
don and Newcastle. 

The coal mined was bituminous with a low per- 
centage of ash and was considered exceptionally 
good fuel for steamers. The demand for it much 
exceeded the supply, the production at this time be- 
ing only twenty-five thousand tons a year, and there 
was a good market for it at five and six dollars a 
ton delivered. The larger part of the output was 
sold to Norwegian steamship companies, most of it 
being consigned to Christiania, Christiansund, Ber- 
gen and Trondhjem. Several cargoes were des- 1 
patched to Archangel, on the White Sea, for a 
Russian concern. 

Aside from business I found much time to devote 
to the social life of Tromso. On the second evening 
after my arrival I received an invitation to attend a 
ski-'mg party of young men and women. It was the 
plan to ski over the hills of the island back of Tromso 
to a small cabin about five miles distant, and there 
cook a meal over a log fire. I knew nothing about 
ski-'mg and had never seen a pair of ski. When one 



266 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

of my Norwegian acquaintances offered to lend me 
a pair I was puzzled to know how any one could get 
over the snow with such fence rails strapped to his 
feet. I was perfectly willing to learn. I donned 
the two unfamiliar slats and, assisted by two pretty 
Norwegian women, who did not understand English, 
started out on the five-mile trip to the cabin. Ten 
miles was a long distance for a novice. The party 
numbered about twenty boys and girls, and they were 
soon far in the lead while my two female aides tus- 
sled with me in the rear. We proceeded smoothly 
enough (the arms of the two girls around my waist 
and mine, of course, around theirs) until we came 
to the first hill. This incline looked about a thousand 
miles long and almost vertically steep. My escorts 
were expert at the sport, but they did not have suf- 
ficient strength to prevent my causing a catastrophe. 
We started down the hill and in a few seconds were 
going at the speed of an express train. I never ex- 
pected to reach the bottom in anything approach- 
ing a dignified position. About fifty yards of such 
travelling was all I could stand, and then the spill 
took place. I wasn't man enough to fall by myself, 
but had to drag the poor girls down with me. The 
three of us rolled down the hill together and landed, 
half buried in the snow, in the most undignified pile 
I ever was in. The party ahead returned to untan- 
gle and dig us out. It was a most intimate affair. 
One young woman was almost completely concealed, 
being half submerged in the snow, while I was so 
irregularly sprawled out on top of her that she had 



A RESIDENT OF ARCTIC ZONE 267 

no possible means of being resurrected until I was 
removed. I, in turn, was pinned down — for the 
other young woman had one of her nether limbs so 
securely entwined around my neck that I felt roped 
to the earth. She, at the same time, was struggling 
in a vain effort to dislodge one of her ski from the 
snow where it had penetrated several feet. The 
three of us were securely anchored, and if we had 
tried to attain our relative positions by a deliberate 
plan we could not have been so successful. 

With the assistance of the rest of the party we 
were finally unravelled. I arose only to repeat the 
performance, not with the same resultant intimacy 
and proximity as in my first experience, however, for 
the young women arranged to keep at a certain dis- 
tance and I was allowed to navigate by myself. My 
courage was not much slackened by the first unhappy 
incident, for I tackled each hill as it came, although 
I knew that I should come to grief in the shape of a 
tangled mass at the bottom. I made a jolly good 
fool of myself, I know, and at each attempt swept 
everything before me, dragging down Norwegian 
widows, massage artists, fishermen's daughters — and 
all within arm's reach as I swooped by. This per- 
formance continued until we arrived at the cabin. 

Soon we were all refreshed by coffee and sand- 
wiches which the girls prepared and we sat around 
the big log fire singing and smoking. Everybody 
smoked, women and all, for it is a common thing for 
the fair sex to use cigarettes in Norway. I dreaded 
to see the time approach for us to depart, for I knew 



268 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

that our return home would be a repetition of our 
eventful journey to the cabin. It was two o'clock in 
the morning and the sun was rising on the distant 
horizon — and I thought I might show signs of im- 
provement when assisted by daylight. We started 
back, the leaders of the party very judiciously se- 
lecting a course which was not so hilly and which 
portended a more peaceful journey. It is a rather 
simple matter to glide along on the level, and the 
way we returned didn't prove nearly so disastrous 
as the way we came. I managed to conduct myself 
fairly well, for the time being. 

When we reached the edge of the town, where 
the hard packed road which led down hill to the 
main street begins, we all took off our ski and con- 
verted them into small sleds by sitting on them and 
riding into the village. I decided to try this new 
method. We all strung out at intervals of about 
twenty feet and started from the summit on a mile 
shoot into the heart of the town. I managed to 
begin all right. I had only gone a few yards, how- 
ever, when the ski beneath me became unmanage- 
able and I could not steer them. We had all ac- 
quired a terrific speed. I was sandwiched in between 
two young women, one sliding a few feet in front 
of me and the other several paces in the rear. I 
reached a curve in the road! I lost my ski and con- 
tinued sliding down the cold and hard road on the 
seat of my trousers. The next minute over I turned 
and grabbed the first object with which I came in con- 
tact. It was the girl behind me who had overtaken 



A RESIDENT OF ARCTIC ZONE 269 

me. I clung to her like a leech and the two of us 
rolled over for several yards and finally landed in 
a heap on the side of the road. Another intimate 
pile. She had lost her ski; her skirts were clustered 
around her neck; my hat had disappeared — and we 
lay in the gutter an unrecognizable mass. My 
feminine associate had her feet extended towards 
the summit of the hill and mine were pointing to- 
wards the town below. We unwound. I got up and 
assisted her to her feet. We walked the rest of the 
way to the village. 

To be the cause of so much human wreckage was 
enough to discourage me. However, I made up my 
mind to persist, for ski-'ing was the only outdoor 
sport in this part of the world. One of the young 
women condoled with me when she learned that ski- 
ing was not in vogue in my country, for she thought 
it was a pity that we had no outdoor sports. During 
two-thirds of the year there is not a wheeled vehicle 
to be seen in Tromso, all transportation being con- 
ducted on sleds and the majority of the inhabitants 
spending much of their time on ski. Even the five- 
year-olds are expert at this method of locomotion. 
I, therefore, decided to learn, in spite of all my re- 
verses, and in a few weeks became so proficient that 
I welcomed hills and often complained because they 
were not steep enough. 

The company bought a house on the hill and we 
three Americans moved out of the hotel into a home 
of our own. Norwegian houses are often arranged 
in a most inconvenient manner. The second floor 



270 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

seldom contains a hallway, and in order to go from 
one bedroom to another, it is necessary to pass 
through the private apartment of another member of 
the household. Very frequently the maid's room is 
situated in one end of the house, and in order to 
reach her bed-chamber she has to walk through all 
the bedrooms. Between all rooms there is a sort 
of sill about two inches high running the width of the 
opening upon which the door swings. One would 
think that the occupants of such houses would be- 
come accustomed to these obstructions and learn to 
step over them. But this is not the case, for Nor- 
wegians are continually falling over the sills. On 
one occasion an officer in the Norwegian army, who 
had just completed a call on us, was making his cere- 
monious and prolonged farewell. With each deep 
bow he would step back towards the door. He re- 
ceded until he toppled over backwards on one of 
these senseless sills. The poor chap gathered him- 
self together and left without saying a word. He 
was the most embarrassed man I ever saw. 

Our house was destitute of furniture, and, as there 
was not much of a line of this commodity in town, 
we spent many evenings as carpenters and painters, 
making tables, beds and chairs with lumber we pur- 
chased from a local merchant. Now that we were 
in our own home we re-arranged our mode of living 
by changing our hours of eating and sleeping. We 
adopted a menu which conformed more nearly to 
what Americans usually eat. We also did a little 
entertaining. We decorated the walls of our house 



A RESIDENT OF ARCTIC ZONE 271 

with pictures we cut from the covers of American 
magazines and hung up curtains which we imported 
from England. 

The most elaborate social function I had the pleas- 
ure of attending was a house dance given at the home 
of one of the doctors of the town. My two Amer- 
ican friends and I arrived at the party about nine 
o'clock. The other guests were all present. As we 
entered the host and hostess were introducing each 
one in turn to the others who were lined up in a row 
at one end of the room. It is the custom to address 
a man by prefixing his vocation to his name, and this 
manner of designating each one was used during the 
introductions. Engineer Hansen, Coppersmith John- 
sen and Fisherman Olsen were all introduced in this 
way. The three Americans were simply addressed 
as "Mister." 

It was remarkable to notice the number of people 
who could speak good English in Tromso. A few 
of them had acquired their knowledge by visits to 
England, but the majority had learned the language 
in the schools of the town. I met one woman who 
had never been south of the Arctic Circle who spoke 
English almost perfectly. There were a number at 
the doctor's dance who spoke the language fluently. 

After every one was thoroughly introduced, fold- 
ing doors were opened, and on tables in the adjoin- 
ing room stood the most sumptuous supper any man 
ever saw. The food was served in buffet fashion, 
and each one was requested to help himself to the 
endless variety of eatables spread before us. 



272 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

Chicken, fish, sandwiches, salads, cakes and fruits 
were piled on this table in such abundance that it 
looked like the assemblage of a dozen Christmas 
dinners. Liquid cheer was so plentiful that one al- 
most believed all the booze in town was concentrated 
in this one room. Every conceivable form of liquor 
was on exhibition, and it would be a most fastidious 
drinker who could not find something to suit his 
taste. Beer, several kinds of wine, punch, whiskey 
and even gin were arrayed before us like the choice 
liquors in a millionaire brewer's cellar. 

The sight of this bountiful feast nearly paralysed 
me. I at first thought it was a dream, and it took 
several minutes before I was aware that it was real 
food and drink. To come up from the steerage to 
such a grand meal as this was nothing short of a 
miracle. I dived in and— with the rest of the guests 
— ate heartily. 

The Norwegians confine themselves to square 
dances, somewhat similar to the Lancers, and to the 
waltz. This last dance is very much like the Amer- 
ican step, with much more of a hop to it and a larger 
interval between the man and his partner. I in- 
sisted on teaching several of the women to one-step. 
They were very pleased with it, but had difficulty 
in becoming accustomed to such proximity to their 
partner. One woman became very fond of this near 
feature, but insisted on my resuming a distant posi- 
tion as we passed her husband, who was seated at 
one end of the room. Those who didn't care to 
dance played cards and smoked. The dainty way 






Upper: Pack Ice in Ice Fjord 
Lower: Twenty Miles from Land 



A RESIDENT OF ARCTIC ZONE 273 

in which the women handled their cigarettes killed 
any prejudice I had nourished about the feminine 
use of tobacco. 

One meal during an evening is evidently not con- 
sidered sufficient in Norway, for at four in the morn- 
ing the same folding doors were opened and another 
array of refreshments lay spread before us. The 
second assortment was by no means the scraps of 
the previous meal. It was an entirely new lot of a 
different variety, and consisted of pudding, cake and 
coffee. All the participants had danced so diligently 
that they had acquired new appetites, and the food 
was all consumed as though it were the only lot of 
refreshments served at the party. This second feast 
was the customary conclusion of Tromso social func- 
tions. Farewells followed, and the guests departed. 
We Americans arrived home at six o'clock, changed 
our clothes, concluded that it was useless to go to 
bed and went directly to the office for the day's work. 
The dancing party was a great success, and I could 
easily have imagined it a New York affair instead 
of an Arctic Zone function. 

It was now only a couple of weeks before the 
company's boat, Mimroe, was scheduled to make its 
initial trip to the mine on Spitzbergen. The office 
staff had an immense amount of work to dispose of 
in this time. Men from all parts of Norway were 
slowly drifting into Tromso to sign contracts for 
summer employment. Supplies were being rushed 
in. A new propeller shaft for the Munroe was en 
route from England. Cabin fixtures were being in- 



274 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

stalled and many matters were being adjusted to 
comply with the maritime regulations of the Nor- 
wegian government before the ship would be per- 
mitted to leave port. 

The last week several American engineers and 
their wives began to arrive. Turner had made ar- 
rangements for these experienced men, and they had 
signed contracts with the company for a period of 
two years. A score of English miners, who had been 
engaged through a British labour bureau, also ar- 
rived. 

With the influx of Norwegian miners and labour- 
ers the streets of Tromso were thronged with 
drunken, fishy and rough-looking men, and the sail- 
ing of the Munroe for the far North was the most 
discussed topic in town. 

Two days before the scheduled time for her de- 
parture the Munroe was launched from the dry-dock 
and crews were kept busy loading her with sup- 
plies of provisions and other merchandise. Twenty 
men were put to work building bunks in the hatch- 
ways for the miners, and the final touches were 
rushed to completion. 

At midnight on the 25 th of May everything was 
ready. About one hundred Norwegian peasants 
filed up the gangway and boarded the ship. They 
were the most forlorn set of adults I ever saw. I 
should have said one hundred drunks — for I don't 
believe that there was one entirely sober man among 
them. Some were completely out as the result of 
a week's intoxication and had to be packed aboard 



A RESIDENT OF ARCTIC ZONE 275 

like sacks of bran. Fifty were conducted from the 
town jail by several policemen, assisted by Superin- 
tendent Gilson and myself. They had been locked 
up on account of disorderly conduct and had been in 
prison awaiting the departure of the Munroe. 

At four o'clock in the morning every one was 
aboard, and the little ship, loaded to her water line 
and carrying a hundred helpless inebriates, turned 
her bow towards the North Pole and started on her 
way. 



CHAPTER XIX 

MINING UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN 

The steamer Munroe was the first boat this year 
to penetrate the frozen north, and her departure 
was looked upon as an event of great importance, 
for an early season trip was one full of uncertainties. 
The condition of the sea in the vicinity of North 
Cape and Spitzbergen was unknown until reported 
by the first vessel in. A severe winter would mean 
a difficult voyage, while a mild season would render 
the passage comparatively easy. The trip from 
Tromso to Advent Bay, where the company's mines 
are located, had varied in length, in past years, from 
three days to five weeks, depending on the amount 
of ice surrounding the island of West Spitzbergen. 
We had sailed, therefore, fully provided with sup- 
plies for the limit of the time required to make the 
journey. The Munroe was completely equipped for 
Arctic Ocean travel, and had been built to meet all 
conditions encountered in the seas of the Far North. 
She was a small steamer, being only about two hun- 
dred feet long, and resting very low in the water — 
her stern deck being but four feet above the surface 
when loaded to her full capacity. She had been es- 
pecially designed for navigation in the icy seas of 

276 



MINING UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN 277 

this region. Attached to her main mast was a 
"crow's nest," a sort of barrel-shaped device which 
looked like a preacher's pulpit. From this point one 
of the crew constantly kept watch for icebergs and 
pieces of float ice. Her bow was re-enforced with a 
solid mass of hard oak, fourteen feet thick, which 
was covered with a heavy band of steel. By reason 
of this solid bow she was equipped so that she could 
ram the ice and loosen large chunks which would 
float away. Her crew comprised experienced Arctic 
sailors and her captain was a kind-hearted old Nor- 
wegian who had served as skipper on ships of the 
northern seas for twenty years. In addition the 
steamer was well provided with sixteen large life- 
saving boats, each with a capacity of fifteen passen- 
gers. 

It was bitterly cold the morning we left Tromso 
and the trip through the narrow fjords leading to 
the open sea was calm and peaceful. The early 
morning hours seemed to lend a stillness to our de- 
parture which made one feel as though he were at- 
tending a funeral. At noon we were well out to sea, 
travelling directly north, and, with the exception of 
the intense cold, there was nothing to indicate that 
we were not on an ordinary ocean voyage in the 
temperate zone. 

Towards evening the drunken miners down the 
forward hatch began to sober up and gradually come 
on deck. With their appearance there was a demand 
for heavy socks, boots, underwear, shirts, windproof 
coats and trousers. As the handling of these ar- 



278 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

tides belonged to my department I was kept busy 
for several hours, assisted by my Norwegian clerks, 
dealing out wearing apparel to the men. The upper 
deck of the ship was transformed into a temporary 
store, and as each man filed by he was given what 
articles 'he needed, together with a store tag, a du- 
plicate of which was retained in order to charge the 
amount of the purchase against his account — to be 
deducted from his first pay-check. 

The second morning we sighted Bear Island, a 
lonely, uninhabited piece of land rising abruptly out 
of the ocean about midway between Norway and 
Spitzbergen. We saw an occasional chunk of float 
ice which had broken loose from the ice pack farther 
north and was drifting carelessly towards the south 
only to melt away when it came in contact with the 
Gulf Stream. We were awakened the next morning 
by the crashing of the bow of the ship against the 
ice. I went up on the bridge and as far as my eye 
could reach I could see nothing but countless pieces 
of float ice, varying in area from a few feet to the 
size of an acre lot. It was an inspiring sight — both 
fore and aft an endless expanse of white broken here 
and there by the irregular streaks of the blue water. 
For two days the patient ship ploughed her way 
through this creaking and cracking mass. Occa- 
sionally she would sail into a space of open sea, and 
in a few minutes would again be completely sur- 
rounded by an ocean of ice which rubbed and knocked 
against her sides with the wheezing sound of the 
ice-man's saw. 




b5 
O 
S 
CO 

b5 

O 

Q 
< 
O 






MINING UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN 279 

The captain said that we were making fine prog- 
ress, and if nothing unforeseen occurred should ar- 
rive in Ice Fjord in the morning. All on board were 
aroused early by the fearful charging of the ship. 
We were now well within the fjord alongside of the 
fast ice. The boat would get up steam, proceed 
ahead at full speed, plunge into the ice, draw back 
and plunge again at a little distance away. By this 
process a large piece of ice would be loosened and 
would slowly drift off. All the morning the Munroe 
battered the ice in this manner. Finally we reached 
a point where the captain considered that the ice was 
secure enough to tie to. Stakes were driven, lines 
extended and the ship made fast. 

We were now about twenty miles from shore. The 
little black ship was nestled in a bed of snowy down. 
Ice Fjord was a solid mass of ice. The steep and 
snow-clad mountains of Spitzbergen surrounded us 
like a cluster of marble cathedral spires, and the 
glacier-choked valleys looked like frozen and mo- 
tionless rivers. It was a dream in snow. At first 
there appeared to be no signs of life, and the death- 
like silence made one sure that it was a new world. 
In the midst of this dreary expanse of ice and snow 
the little veteran ship of the Arctic, hugging its 
frozen wharf, stood like a messenger from another 
planet, bearing greetings to the bleak and uninhab- 
ited land around us. The first signs of life shortly 
came into sight. Here and there, at irregular inter- 
vals, we saw seals and sea lions dotting the ice like 
flies on a white ceiling. A flock of geese flew over- 



28o JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

head and as soon as our advent had been heralded 
to the inhabitants of the air, droves of reaper hov- 
ered about the ship to welcome us to their frigid 
home. Thousands of these fearless birds, to whom 
the report of a gun was unknown, gathered about us 
and formed a sea of blackness in the open space at 
the stern of the ship. 

There was no time to lose, and once the ship was 
made fast two men were detailed to proceed to the 
mine and notify the winter superintendent of our ar- 
rival. The hundred and fifty men were getting their 
belongings together for their march to the camp. In 
a short time one could see this small army of men 
creeping like a huge caterpillar over the twenty-mile 
stretch of ice to the mine. Superintendent Gilson and 
I remained with the ship, making preparations for 
the unloading of the cargo and awaiting the arrival 
of the sleds from the camp. 

We couldn't resist the temptation, and towards 
evening we went hunting. From the deck of the ship 
we landed a goodly bag of reaper for our evening 
meal. We would shoot into the black mass of these 
trim little ducks that clustered about the boat, and 
with each shot the innocent creatures would momen- 
tarily flutter and then close up the gap. Every time 
we fired we killed half-a-dozen birds and shortly we 
had a sufficient number to feed the ship's crew. It 
was like slaying little babes, and as soon as we had 
enough for dinner we stopped the heartless slaugh- 
ter. 

There are no barbers on Spitzbergen. Seated on 



MINING UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN 28? 

a stool on the stern of the ship I allowed Superin- 
tendent Gilson to shingle my rusty locks with a pair 
of clippers provided by the company. I didn't re- 
alize how intensely cold it was until the sharp cur- 
rents of the Arctic began to circulate around my ears 
in the paths made by the mowing hand of the super- 
intendent. One complete run of the clippers up the 
back of my head was all I could stand at one time, 
and in I would run to warm myself by the stove in 
the mess-room. In a minute I would return to let 
the work continue, only to speed back to the stove 
again. Dinner was on the table and the little mess- 
room could not be turned into a barber-shop. After 
half an hour the job was finished. It was Gilson's 
first attempt at anything in the tonsorial line. On 
gazing into the mirror to inspect the work I con- 
cluded that he should have been a winding stair- 
maker. The most skilled mechanic could not have 
made a more perfect set of steps. 

In the morning half-a-dozen sleds drawn by horses 
could be seen making their way towards the ship. 
Occasionally one of the horses would step on a soft 
or melted spot in the ice and sink in for several feet. 
Finally one of the poor animals disappeared beneath 
the ice and was completely submerged in the freez- 
ing water. After a twenty-minute struggle, aided 
by its team-mate which had been hitched in such a 
manner as to render assistance, the brave beast was 
brought to the surface of the ice. 

The sleds reached the ship and the place became 
a scene of great activity, discharging the cargo and 



282 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

loading it again for transportation across the ice to 
the mine. 

Gilson and I left the work in charge of the captain 
and about noon set out across the ice to the camp. 
Gilson went in the lead a few paces to select the way 
and avoid the soft and treacherous-looking water 
holes. Distance on the ice was very deceiving. We 
had walked for two hours, and the mountains seemed 
to be as far away as ever. We proceeded on for two 
hours more and still our destination seemed no 
nearer. However, we knew we were making prog- 
ress, for the Munroe, in the rear, looked like a small 
row boat and became smaller and smaller as we 
continued until she disappeared from view. We 
tramped on over this vast expanse of ice. At eight 
o'clock in the evening we reached the shore. We 
walked over the hill about a mile, and in a few min- 
utes were in the little camp. Turner and the other 
members of the American staff had arrived the day 
before and had prepared a big dinner for us. Gilson 
and I sat down at the table in the little cottage which 
served as headquarters for the Americans, and ate 
one of the finest meals of our lives. Roast reindeer, 
killed by a member of the camp the day before, made 
a great filling for two hungry and frozen men. 

The Spitsbergen archipelago is another "No- 
Man's Land." It belongs to no country. The Arc- 
tic Coal Company, incorporated under the laws of 
Massachusetts, owns about forty-five thousand acres 
on the island of West Spitzbergen, which it acquired 
by staking out claims and which it holds by the moral 



MINING UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN 283 

protection of the United States. A British company 
has several thousand acres of coal lands on the same 
island which it abandoned a number of years ago. 
There is a marble quarry on the east coast operated 
by an English concern. At Green Harbour, near the 
entrance of Ice Fjord, the Norwegian government 
conducts a wireless plant, and near by there is a 
Swedish whaling station. There are no native in- 
habitants of Spitsbergen, and its population, num- 
bering about three hundred and fifty in the summer 
season and two hundred in the winter, is made up of 
those engaged at the several places I have enumer- 
ated. 

The islands of Spitzbergen are coveted by the 
three Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and 
Denmark. Russia is also desirous of adding them 
to her vast domain. Each year a council, made up 
of representatives from each of these nations, meets 
in Stockholm, Christiania or Copenhagen and dis- 
cusses ways and means to settle the question of their 
disposal. Nothing definite has ever been accom- 
plished, and without the approval of Great Britain 
and America, whose properties make them big fac- 
tors, the problem bids fair to remain undecided for 
some time. As a result of this situation Spitzbergen 
does not possess a local government of any kind. It 
is a land where might is right. There are no laws, 
no police and no means to enforce order. Manager 
Turner was the ruler and executive in our part of the 
island, and any regulations that existed had been 
instituted by him. 



284 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

Eight months of the year the islands are entirely 
frozen in; their steep mountains are covered with 
snow, their valleys filled with immense glaciers and 
their interior is one endless waste of ice. During the 
summer months the fjords and bays of the southern 
part are freed of ice, the mountains shed their white 
mantles and the hillsides burst forth with the bloom 
of millions of little wild flowers of many varieties, 
which, with the abundant fresh green grass, present 
a most beautiful picture. I once read a booklet de- 
scriptive of Spitsbergen in which the trees were 
stated to be only two inches high. This is literally 
true. None of the vegetation attains a greater 
height than two inches, but it is doubtful whether 
these miniature plants should be dignified to the ex- 
tent of being called trees. 

Advent Bay, on whose shores the camp of the 
company is situated, is a small body of water and is 
on the northeastern side of Ice Fjord, of which it 
is a part. The company has a wharf with coal bunk- 
ers which is not accessible for steamers until the ice 
breaks and flows out — about the first of July each 
year. The camp consists of a store, a mess pavilion, 
a power plant, four warehouses, the manager's cot- 
tage and about a dozen bunk-houses for the men. 
This little settlement is called Longyear City, being 
named after the president of the company, and its 
inhabitants proudly boast that it is the most north- 
erly city in the world, thus cold-heartedly snatching 
this distinction from Hammerfest, on the northern 
coast of Norway. Hammerfest is a town of five 




The Ice Pack from the Crow's Nest 



MINING UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN 285 

thousand people and is described in tourist literature 
as being the nearest municipality to the North Pole. 
Longyear City is seven hundred and twenty-five miles 
from the Pole, and therefore has Hammerfest beaten 
for the honour by nearly a thousand miles! 

Twenty small frame buildings comprised the total 
number of dwellings that the little snow-clad village 
could muster, and these were all the property of the 
Arctic Coal Company. On the sides of the small 
houses were nailed the hides of polar bears, killed 
by the miners during the winter, and the walls inside 
were decorated with the skins of the white fox, an 
animal whose fur is as white as snow and as soft as 
a baby's cheek. The mine was about fifteen hundred 
feet above the camp on the side of a hill and was 
connected from below by a zig-zag trail. The coal 
was conveyed to the stock pile on the shore of the 
bay by means of an aerial tramway about one mile 
in length. Supplies were transported from the store 
to the mine by an incline. The mine was simply a 
horizontal hole in the ground, about two thousand 
seven hundred feet long, and an elevator was an un- 
known device to this dark tunnel. The roofs of the 
drifts were frozen and numerous icicles hung down 
in such a manner that the huge cavern looked like 
a grotto in fairy land. 

On the arrival of the summer crew the winter 
superintendent turned the direction of the camp over 
to Manager Turner. The one hundred men who 
had spent the eight months of the winter at the mine 
immediately started across the ice to the Munroe, 



286 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

which, the following day, was to take them back to 
Norway. There was no end of work to be done. I 
organized the office, instructed the German book- 
keeper to open a set of accounts and started the 
"Mulligan" to feed the two hundred and fifty men. 
My biggest job was taking an inventory of all sup- 
plies in the camp. The stock in the store had to be 
listed first, and this task was begun and completed 
the night of my arrival; in the morning we were 
open for business. This little mercantile establish- 
ment was a grocery store, hardware store, butcher 
shop, dry goods store, boot shop and haberdashery 
all in one. Everything was displayed on its shelves, 
from a needle to a miner's drill. Hairpins and 
cheese, socks and salmon, nails and raisins, boots and 
bacon, leather vests and condensed milk, shovels 
and cold storage eggs, were all piled together like an 
assortment in an American junk shop. The morning 
its doors opened nearly the whole camp of two hun- 
dred and fifty men made a run on the place, crowding 
before its counter and scrambling to be waited on 
by the two Norwegian clerks. Each man wanted 
to outfit himself so that he could go to work the next 
day. Much confusion resulted because of the many 
duplications of names, and many accounts were 
charged to the wrong man. There were a score of 
Ole Olesens, a dozen Johan Jensens, a half-dozen 
Johan Johnsens and several each of Johnsons, Jo- 
hannesens and what not. We finally had to rename 
each man whose customary designation caused con- 
fusion with those of his fellow workers. 



MINING UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN 287 

The inventory of the supplies in the four ware- 
houses was the big task. Before we could even get 
possession of the articles to tabulate and price them 
we were compelled to dig them out of the ice with 
picks and shovels. I had a crew working for nearly 
a week excavating dynamos, engines, barrels of oil. 
mine implements and so forth, before it was possible 
to know what we had in stock. Then there were 
supplies in the mine, transformer houses with elec- 
trical appliances, powder and dynamite sheds, which 
all had to be listed and priced. The new supplies, 
as they arrived from Tromso, had to be inventoried 
and placed away. With the fresh fish and meat 
which the company's boats brought from Norway, 
the fifty mine cars from America, the hundreds of 
steel rails for new tracks about the camp, the thou- 
sands of feet of lumber for construction of buildings, 
the fixtures for the wireless plant the company was 
to install, the hundreds of packages of cheese, sacks 
of flour, beans, potatoes, canned goods and other 
provisions — my assistants and I were kept busy from 
six o'clock in the morning until eleven each evening. 
We were installing a new warehouse card system, and 
each article in the camp had to be entered and priced. 
We took no time off at noon except to eat; we worked 
Sundays, and only laid off for a half hour on the 
Fourth of July to play baseball. 

The miners were paid six kroner a day, and from 
this amount a krone and a half was deducted for 
their board. One krone is equal to twenty-seven 
cents of American money. These wages were nearly 



288 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

double what they were accustomed to receiving in 
Norway for the same sort of work. However, this 
comparatively generous pay did not satisfy them, 
and at the end of the first week they all went on a 
strike. A walkout was a serious thing. The com- 
pany was under contract to deliver coal to several 
concerns in Norway, and it was paying one hundred 
and twenty-five dollars a day rental for each of its 
seven ships and could not afford to permit any of 
them to be idle. Advent Bay was now clear of ice, 
and there were three chartered steamers at anchor 
taking on coal for transportation to Norwegian 
ports. 

The miners demanded that they be paid six kroner 
a day and free board. After a day's conference with 
two representatives from the men, the management 
agreed to the raise on the condition that they would 
be satisfied for the rest of the summer season. The 
men accepted these terms and returned to work. 

The Munroe arrived on her second trip from 
Tromso, bringing the remainder of the summer crew. 
This lot of men consisted of about seventy-five Nor- 
wegians, several Russians, Laplanders and Finns. 
Among the Finns were three labour agitators. 
These men immediately set to work to stir up trouble 
and in a short time were successful in again causing 
dissatisfaction among the miners. The result was a 
second strike, in which the men demanded a raise of 
two kroner a day. This would bring their wages up 
to eight kroner and board. Such an advance was out 
of the question. The management absolutely refused 



MINING UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN 289 

the demands and discharged every striker in the 
camp. A complete walk-out followed. 

The next three days were exciting ones. The man- 
ager instructed me to have the office prepare the ac- 
counts of all the men and issue them pay checks 
which they were to present to the Tromso office for 
their money. It was his plan to ship the whole crowd 
back to Norway. There was not a ship in the har- 
bour, and it would be several days before one re- 
turned from Norway. In the meantime the work of 
the accounts went on. The German bookkeeper and 
I, assisted by two Americans, worked forty-eight 
hours without a wink of sleep. 

Manager Turner expected violence, and each one 
of the eight Americans was provided with a pistol. 
There being no policemen on the island, each man 
had to become an officer. Watches were formed and 
two men remained up all night to see that no trouble 
was started. One man was assigned to guard a batch 
of supplies down the coast about five miles, where 
they had been unloaded from the Munroe, and an- 
other was delegated to keep an eye on the several 
dynamite houses. The two hundred and fifty Nor- 
wegians, Swedes, Russians, Laplanders and Finns 
gathered in groups about the camp or paraded up 
and down the main road carrying red flags, shouting 
and jeering. The little camp was in a state of high 
tension, and we eight Americans didn't know when 
the minute might arrive that would force us to battle 
for our lives. 

The company each year took precautions for such 



2 9 o JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

an uprising, and it was a regulation that no firearms 
be allowed on the island. The men were searched 
as they boarded the steamer at Tromso. But in 
spite of this inspection a number of pistols were al- 
ways smuggled in by the miners. It was not the fear 
of the guns that caused the Americans so much ap- 
prehension, but the thought that the strikers might 
storm the dynamite sheds. With each man armed 
with a twenty-five pound box of nitro-glycerine, they 
could attack the staff house and blow us all into 
eternity in one minute, swear themselves to secrecy 
and the world would never know a thing about it. 

The strikers gathered about the manager's cot- 
tage, and it seemed that the crisis was about to take 
place. From a staff on the cottage an American flag 
was flying, and this was a continual source of tempta- 
tion to the miners. Turner had decided, in case they 
pulled down the Stars and Stripes, to go quietly out 
in their midst and calmly hoist them up again. In 
the event of their insulting the flag the second time 
he would instruct the Americans to fight — and it 
would have been a fight to the death. 

Three days under such circumstances seemed like 
three years. All day the demonstrations on the part 
of the men kept our little band ready for any emer- 
gency. The wives of two of the Americans were 
in camp on a short visit from Tromso, and they con- 
fined themselves to the staff house, where they no 
doubt served as an element restraining the strikers 
from violence. 

One night I stood at the door of the office along 





Upper: , , _ T 

The Munroe Alongside the Ice— 60 Miles from Land 

Lower: 

Longyear City, Spitzenbergen— 700 Miles from the 
North Pole 



MINING UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN 291 

towards twelve o'clock, and by the misty light of the 
midnight sun I could see several pairs of the miners 
skulking up the valley towards the giant glacier; 
others were sneaking quietly along in the vicinity of 
the mine, and still others were walking slowly along 
the docks. The strikers were organized and had 
their night watches as well as the Americans. 

The third morning of the strike the accounts were 
completed. Each man came into the office for his 
pay check. In this way we had an opportunity to 
talk to them apart from their fellow workmen. Fully 
two-thirds of them stated that they were not in sym- 
pathy with the strike, but were afraid to rebel for 
fear of being injured or killed by the leaders. The 
strikers kept two men at the office door checking each 
man as he went in and out. Several of the miners 
had not worked long enough for their wages to off- 
set their purchases at the store and owed the com- 
pany money. This, of course, was lost. 

Late in the afternoon of the third day of the strike 
two of the chartered ships arrived in the bay from 
Norway. Orders were issued for them to get in 
readiness to transport the whole gang of miners back 
to Tromso that evening. The crews built bunks in 
the hatch-ways and supplies were put on board. By 
dusk the ships were ready for their unruly passen- 
gers. 

Before going aboard the strikers paraded about 
the camp, scouring the place for deserters. They 
were determined to make a clean-up of every labourer 
of any kind, and in this way tie us up completely. 



292 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

They threatened to kill one man who attempted to 
hide himself in the power house. To save this man's 
life the captain of one of the ships locked him up in 
a cabin. The strikers finally boarded the two boats. 
The whistles blew and they were off for Tromso. 
The camp was almost deserted. Under my instruc- 
tions the cooks iiad hidden up the valley in the vicin- 
ity of the glacier, and thus the culinary department 
was kept intact— which was something. 

With the strikers shipped out, a feeling of relief 
descended upon us. The manager had a tremendous 
burden taken from his shoulders and each man dis- 
played a tired but smiling face instead of the wor- 
ried expression of the three past days. All the office 
hands turned to and became miners, rushing the 
work to load the incoming ships. 

If the management had complied with the de- 
mands of the strikers the report would have 
circulated through Norway that the Arctic Coal 
Company was an easy mark, and the mine would have 
become the rendezvous for all the labour agitators 
and riff-raff miners in the country. The day after 
the departure of the strikers Turner sent a wireless 
message to the Tromso office advising the Nor- 
wegian in charge of the strike and informing him 
that the whole crew was on its way to Norway to be 
paid off. Turner anticipated that the advent of this 
gang might cause a disturbance in Tromso, and that 
they might raid the company's office. He therefore 
made arrangements with the government to close the 
samlag, or federal liquor house, and to have the 



MINING UNDER MIDNIGHT SUN 293 

militia in readiness for trouble. He cabled a list of 
the names of the men who owed the company money 
for store purchases with instructions to attach their 
personal possessions and place them under arrest. 

The Norwegian in charge of t' J - Tromso office 
had a difficult situation to handle. However, he car- 
ried out Turner's instructions to the letter. The two 
ships with the strikers arrived in Tromso; twenty 
of the men were immediately arrested; the militia 
was on hand to maintain order and the samlag was 
closed and there was no booze. 

Two Norwegian clerks were despatched to Nor- 
way to go into the country villages and engage an- 
other crew of miners. In two weeks a new set of 
men began to arrive at the mine, and at the end of 
a month a complete force was on hand and the work 
was proceeding as though nothing had happened. 

The company's little store occasionally had dis- 
tinguished customers. I found the Norwegian clerk 
selling a large consignment of goods one afternoon 
to two Englishmen. They engaged me in conversa- 
tion and asked me many questions about the mine 
and the camp. They were curious to know what 
brought me to this far-away land, and our talk nat- 
urally drifted around to my world trip. They be- 
came interested at once. 

They were out on a hunting expedition in the 
vicinity of Spitzbergen. One of the blades of the 
propeller of their steam yacht had been broken on a 
piece of float ice and they had come into Advent Bay 
to get it repaired at the company's machine shop. I 



294 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

invited them to dinner at the staff house. They de- 
clined, as the repairs to their boat were nearly com- 
plete and they wanted to get under way as soon as 
possible. They valued my invitation, and as they 
took their leave asked me to be their guest in Eng- 
land on my return trip to America. They presented 
me with their cards. "Sir Philip L. Brocklehurst, 
Swythamley Park, Macclesfield, The Bath Club," 
was the inscription on one and Sir Something Mit- 
ford on the other. I was mingling with two of Eng- 
land's noblemen, young fellows who had acquired 
their titles by inheritance. The rest of my stay on 
the island I was known as the "King." 

I had now been with the Arctic Coal Company 
four months and had four hundred dollars saved. I 
hoped to meet my father in Toronto, Canada, in a 
few weeks and go with him to California. One 
morning about four o'clock I boarded one of the 
company's coal freighters and started for Norway. 



CHAPTER XX 

TO AMERICA AS AN IMMIGRANT 

The company's coal steamer brought me safely 
to Tromso. What a wonderful transformation had 
taken place during my two months' absence. Tromso 
had discarded her dreary winter garments and was 
now arrayed in a mantle of summer gladness. Her 
gentle slopes were covered with green grass and 
myriads of little wild flowers literally danced as they 
thrust their tiny faces towards the deep blue sky. 
Trees were in leaf, the air was crisp and clear and 
birds were singing. The atmosphere rang with the 
joy of summer time and the snow-bound village of 
the winter was a glorious symphony of beauty and 
happiness. I wanted to remain there the rest of my 
life. 

But I was now homeward bound. My whole ob- 
ject was to teach Toronto, where I was to meet my 
father, by the quickest and cheapest route. 

It was my plan to go by train through Sweden to 
Stockholm. My steamer for Narvik, the beginning 
of the railroad, did not leave for a day, during which 
I remained in Tromso. That evening I spent with 
several of my Norwegian friends at the Grand Hotel 
eating, drinking and making merry. In the midst of 
our good time, about ten o'clock, one of the bell boys 

295 



296 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

presented me with a note. This little communica- 
tion was from one of Norway's many Mr. Ole 
Olesens. This particular Ole Olesen was one of 
Tromso's butchers, from whom the company had 
purchased most of the meat for the mine. He was 
showing me a courtesy by asking me to go fishing 
with him about midnight. To engage in such a 
pastime at such an hour struck me as an odd thing 
to do. With the assistance of one of my native 
friends I wrote Mr. Olesen a cordial note — declin- 
ing. 

Anyway, I had another engagement for the rest 
of the evening. I called on the wife of a Norwegian 
army captain and a woman companion of hers. Her 
husband was in Christiania, two thousand miles 
away. On a previous occasion the captain's wife 
had told me through an interpreter that I was the 
finest man she ever knew. This sort of flummery 
was new stuff to me. Making love through an inter- 
preter is a very unsatisfactory process, even if it is 
to another man's wife. 

Whatever admiration this woman may have had 
for me was completely dispelled, I thought, by the 
displeasure she manifested on the occasion of this 
call. I had some difficulty in ascertaining what her 
grievance was, but finally learned that she was pro- 
voked at the method I had pursued in entering her 
house. I couldn't find the gate in front of her resi- 
dence, so I climbed over the fence. My object was 
to get in and I had no time to spend searching for 
gates if such entrances were not in the places they 



TO AMERICA AS AN IMMIGRANT 297 

should be. To climb over a fence at eleven o'clock 
at night in the light of the midnight sun was a fearful 
breach of Norwegian good form. What would the 
neighbours say to see a man entering her house in 
this strange manner at such an hour, when her hus- 
band was away? I left her house, disgraced. 

I was on board the steamer for Narvik. The 
boat was swinging away from the Tromso pier. My 
displeased friend of the night before came running 
down the street to bid me farewell. By the time she 
reached the wharf I was beyond speaking distance — 
my boat was out in the stream. We could do noth- 
ing but wave handkerchiefs. I waved until my arms 
were tired and the lady was out of sight. I bor- 
rowed a pair of field glasses, and as long as I could 
see the poor woman continued waving. She may be 
waving yet. She had forgiven me for the fence epi- 
sode. Hers was the first broken heart I had left 
behind me on the whole trip. 

A dreary journey in a third-class compartment of 
a Swedish train brought me from Narvik to Stock- 
holm. I saw this beautiful city as a real tourist. I 
was a comparatively rich man with the money I had 
earned in Tromso and Spitzbergen, and I lavished 
it rather extravagantly in an effort to crowd' the in- 
teresting points of Stockholm into a short time. 

I sailed from Gothenburg for Hull as an humble 
passenger of the steerage. My fellow travellers 
were Swedish, Danish and Norwegian immigrants 
bound for America. Being the only member of the 
Steerage without a through ticket to New York, I 



298 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

was called before the captain of the ship, the second 
day out, for a cross-examination. He asked me 
several personal questions, I feigned that I was not 
used to such humiliation, and the generous-looking 
skipper said that he would leave my case to the Eng- 
lish authorities. 

When the ship docked at Hull, the cattle of the 
steerage were instructed to congregate in the mess- 
room for inspection. Presently a group of five Brit- 
ish immigration officials entered the room. They 
were all dressed in blue uniforms with brass but- 
tons, and these brass buttons seemed the biggest 
thing about them to me. 

"Where is the tramp from Sweden?" gruffly asked 
one of them, directing his question to the captain of 
the ship. 

"I presume I am the man for whom you are look- 
ing," I volunteered in as excellent English as I could 
command. I was standing beside the officer and he 
seemed somewhat perplexed when a response to his 
question came in the words of his own language from 
an unshaved tramp. The Swedish authorities had 
cabled to the immigration headquarters at Hull that 
I was on the boat, and I was thus assured of a recep- 
tion. 

"Are you a Swede?" was the officer's next ques- 
tion as he turned his eyes on me. 

u Do I look like one?" was my flippant reply. 

"What nationality are you, then?" he inquired 
sternly. 

"I am an American." 



TO AMERICA AS AN IMMIGRANT 299 

"Where are you going?" 

"I am going to America as fast as I can get there." 

"How much money have you in your possession?" 

"I have enough." 

"I want to know the actual amount," said the offi- 
cer impatiently. 

"About sixty pounds." 

The officer conducted me into an adjoining cabin 
and there I had to dig into my pockets, pull out my 
money (which I had converted into English coin in 
Stockholm) and prove to his satisfaction that I had 
some real wealth in my possession. 

"I think this thing has gone about far enough," I 
said. "I am not a pauper and am well able to take 
care of myself. There is no need to suspect that I 
will become a public charge. This sixty pounds is 
as much as any one of you makes in a whole year. 
I realize that you are simply carrying out the immi- 
gration regulations and doing your duty, but why 
can't you exercise a little discretion and let a man, 
who is well able to take care of himself, go on his 
way without all this nonsense?" This complaint of 
mine seemed to bring the Britisher to his senses and 
with a few remarks in conclusion I was allowed to 
land; not, however, until I had promised to go di- 
rectly across to Liverpool and take the first steamer 
for America. 

In five minutes I was going towards London at 
sixty miles an hour. The first boat from Liverpool 
to Quebec did not leave for a couple of days, 
and I decided to spend this time in the metropolis 



300 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

in spite of the instructions of the immigration 
officials. 

Nearly three years of travel had reduced my ward- 
robe to a shabby lot of garments, and I was afraid 
of being arrested for vagrancy. I wandered into a 
men's furnishing store on Holborn Street and pur- 
chased a complete new outfit, including a Scotch 
tweed suit and two English caps. I was now equipped 
to travel to California with my father properly 
dressed. 

That evening I put on all my new clothes, hopped 
into a taxicab and was off to make a call. I alighted 
at Fulham Palace and presented to the servant at 
the door a card of introduction to the Bishop of 
London, which I had received from the chaplain of 
the British legation in Peking. In a minute the serv- 
ant informed me that Bishop Ingram was absent 
from the city and was not expected for two weeks. 
I was sorry. I wished to end up by interviewing a 
Lord Bishop. 

I cabled my father in California that I would meet 
him in Toronto on August 17th, and left from Pad- 
dington station for Liverpool. I bought a through 
ticket from London to Liverpool by rail, thence to 
Quebec by steamer and finally to Toronto on a colo- 
nial train— all for six pounds. 

At Liverpool I boarded the Tunisian of the Allan 
line and in a few minutes was lost in the hold of the 
ship among the two thousand English and Irish emi- 
grants. My three cabin-mates were East End cock- 
neys an4 they might as well have been Comanche 



TO AMERICA AS AN IMMIGRANT 301 

Indians — for I was unable to understand their pe- 
culiar twang for a couple of days. The food was 
substantial sort of stuff but was served as though 
the eaters were animals. And, as a matter of fact, 
they were quite capable of playing the role of any 
trough-fed beast. Profane and obscene expressions, 
which are not fit for print, although considered 
proper for the ears of the women of the steerage, 
were used at the table as so many platitudes. Seam- 
stresses, Irish mill hands, English servants, cobblers, 
mechanics, barbers and an endless assortment of 
skilled and unskilled labourers of Great Britain were 
on their way to Canada to begin life over again. 

After the first two days of seasickness were over, 
the fun on board ship began. Restraint and feminine 
modesty were cast to the winds, and the man who 
wasn't good enough to get a lover wasn't worth tak- 
ing along. It was probably the most brazen exhibi- 
tion of spooning I ever saw. It was a case of wrestle 
and osculate from morning until night regardless of 
how many curious and amused spectators were in 
the audience. The jesting and jeering of the on- 
lookers seemed to act only as an incentive to the love- 
sick sea-farers, who were bent on having a big fling 
now that they were free from the restraint of home 
surroundings. 

I spent most of the time as a spectator, frequently 
engaging in conversation with my fellow passengers 
to learn their ideas of this world and the next. I 
occasionally dropped into the first-class kitchen and 
made a friend of the chief cook, a good man to know 



302 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

when travelling steerage and living on its dessertless 
menu. I soon was the daily recipient of hand-outs 
and I very gratefully devoured the samples of cake, 
pudding and tarts which were prepared for the first- 
class passengers of the ship. 

The Tunisian's schedule from Liverpool to Que- 
bec was nine days but, owing to the dense fogs, we 
were compelled to anchor for three days off the New- 
foundland coast to avoid any chance of colliding with 
an iceberg. When the fog lifted there was no end 
of these huge monsters of ice in our immediate vicin- 
ity. On one side of the ship I counted sixty-five ice- 
bergs, and there were as many on the other side. 

The twelfth day we pulled into Quebec and the 
two thousand steerage passengers were quartered in 
the immigration sheds awaiting inspection by the 
Canadian officials. I again encountered difficulty in 
proving that I was not a Norwegian cut-throat or a 
Swedish crook but finally obtained my inspection card 
which permitted me to go on my way. 

I took a colonist train to Toronto, where I met 
my father, who had come from California to meet 
me. He had wished me Godspeed three years before 
from San Francisco, and he was now to cross the 
continent with me and help me complete the circuit. 
Our meeting was a joyful one. He didn't shy at my 
travel-worn appearance. I was dressed in an old 
suit which was spotted and covered with dust; I had 
a two-weeks' growth on my face and I needed a hair- 
cut and a bath. While my father waited in the sta- 
tion I sought the first barber shop I could find, and 



TO AMERICA AS AN IMMIGRANT 303 

after an hour of cleansing at an expense of $1.55, I 
was ready to travel with civilized people. 

Toronto was my native city and I had not visited 
it since I was an infant. My father and I, there- 
fore, spent several weeks looking up friends and rela- 
tives before starting west. En route to St. Louis, 
I took leave of my dad, and went to visit Richardson 
at his home in Fairmont, Minnesota. He had re- 
turned to America four months before and we had 
not seen one another for nearly nine months — since 
we separated in Constantinople. 

During my two days' visit we each outlined where 
we had been since parting and related to one an- 
other our different experiences. Richardson re- 
mained in Constantinople two months holding down 
his job of electric wiring for Roberts College. In 
that time he made many trips about Constantinople 
and its environs and became very familiar with the 
Turkish capital. He made a journey into the country 
districts and got a glimpse of village life in Turkey. 

His course through Europe was somewhat similar 
to mine and included Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Ger- 
many, France, England and Scotland. He did not 
visit Austria-Hungary but spent several weeks in 
Germany, stopping at Munich, Niirnberg, Dresden, 
Leipsic and Berlin. From London he took a trip 
to Edinburgh, returning to Liverpool whence he 
crossed the Atlantic steerage to Boston. He ar- 
rived in America without a cent. Fortunately there 
was a letter for him at Thomas Cook and Son's office 
from his mother, in which was enclosed a money 



3o 4 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

order for twenty-four dollars with which to buy 
tablecloths. He cashed the order and with the 
money bought a cheap ticket to Fairmont. i\gain 
broke, he arrived home after being away two years 
and eight months. At the time of my visit he had 
a position with the New York Life Insurance Com- 
pany. 

I joined my father in St. Louis, where I spent three 
days visiting a married sister, and we then continued 
our journey to California. My return to San Fran- 
cisco was the occasion of the following article in the 
Examiner: 

<l U. OF C. STUDENT GIRDLES GLOBE ON $3.85 

Alfred C. B. Fletcher Travels Three Years as 
Teacher, Sailor and Adventurer 

"Three years of adventure and 30,000 miles of 
travel through the seven seas ended yesterday when 
Alfred C. B. Fletcher, university graduate, journal- 
ist, school teacher, Government official, sailor and 
miner, returned to California with a Kiplingesque 
stock of personal experiences and jingling a silver 
surplus over the $3.85 with which he left San Fran- 
cisco. 

Fletcher was arrested as a spy in Japan, battled 
with pirates on a Chinese junk in the Chinese sea, 
visited Bethlehem on Christmas Day, attended the 
Durbar in India, toiled in a mine of Norway and 
has returned from the rough and tumble of world 
adventure to study theology for Orders in the Epis- 
copal Church. 



TO AMERICA AS AN IMMIGRANT 305 



LEADER IN UNIVERSITY 

In 1907 Fletcher graduated from the University 
of California, where he was a leading figure on the 
campus. He was editor of the Daily Calif ornian, 
prominent in other affairs, and a member of the 
Golden Bear and Winged Helmet honour societies 
and the Psi Upsilon fraternity. 

Three years ago he decided to take a graduate 
course in the school of hard knocks and see the 
world on his nerve and native hardihood. He 
bought a steamer ticket to Honolulu and waved 
good-bye to his friends at the pier with a promise 
that he would not return until he had swung around 
the belt of the Globe. 

At Honolulu he halted for lack of funds to get 
him further transportation and entered the business 
of school teaching. Between school periods he took 
examinations for work as a Government official on 
the Pearl Harbour project, more from curiosity than 
a desire to quit school teaching. His examination 
marks were high and he was appointed. 

TRAVELS ON EARNINGS 

Several months of Pearl Harbour work got him 
money enough to go on, and he travelled for several 
months on the earnings. On this leg of the journey 
he was accompanied by a young Dartmouth gradu- 
ate whose method of travel was akin to his own. 

While in Japan, they snapshotted pictures of Jap- 
anese fortifications and were arrested and thrown 
into prison. The services of the Secretary of State 
were secured before the two young college travellers 
were liberated. For the rest of their visit in Japan 
they were shadowed by agents of the Japanese Gov- 



3 o6 JOB TO JOB AROUND THE WORLD 

ernment, and they found the pursuit so uncomfort- 
able that they shortened their stay. 

In China Fletcher became instructor in a Peking 
school of engineering. He travelled leisurely down 
the coast to Hongkong, making inland trips and long 
stays in all the great ports of China. 

By the time he reached Hongkong his finances 
were low and a trip across the China sea to Manila 
was made in a junL On the voyage a typhoon struck 
the rickety craft, and the Chinese, believing they 
were lost, flocked around the images of their gods 
with shrieks of terror. Fletcher rushed to the deck, 
saw the danger to the unmanned ship, and compelled 
the Oriental sailors to return to their posts. 

MORAL FORCE NECESSARY 

For several months he remained in Manila, serv- 
ing most of the time as an official of the Territorial 
Government in its department of education. From 
there he journeyed on to India and witnessed the 
Durbar spectacle. 

His travel was broken by spells of work on land. 
Frequently he signed on steamers as sailor or deck 
hand. A long stay was made in Palestine. From 
the eastern Mediterranean he went up into France 
and England and, for the first time in years, looked 
into familiar faces. Many of his former college 
friends were travelling in Paris, London and study- 
ing at Oxford. 

The experience in Europe took his last cent and 
he worked his way to Spitzbergen, Norway, where 
a friend of college days is superintendent of a mine. 
There he spent several months and gathered suffi- 
cient funds to insure his return to California. 

Fletcher is visiting his brother, John D. Fletcher, 
at 2320 Le Conte Street, Berkeley. For a few days 



TO AMERICA AS AN IMMIGRANT 307 

he will renew old associations around the university 
and after a visit to his home at Covina in the south- 
ern part of the state he will leave for New York to 
enter a theological seminary." 

Three days in the vicinity of San Francisco, and 
I went to my home in Southern California. When 
in Toronto I had bought a ticket to Los Angeles and 
return, for I had planned to go to New York City 
to enter a theological seminary. I might state paren- 
thetically that after six months of study for the min- 
istry, I came to the conclusion I was in the wrong 
pew and gave it up. The change from a tramp to 
an embryo parson was too sudden, I suppose. The 
price of the round-trip ticket from Toronto and my 
expenses to California had taken the last of my 
Norwegian earnings and I arrived homp brnk» T 
had been away three years, had c»" 
had travelled over sixty thous~ 



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